


Sacrifices

by Eleanor_Devil, mirage05



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 13:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 107,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6007353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eleanor_Devil/pseuds/Eleanor_Devil, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirage05/pseuds/mirage05
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A tragic misunderstanding followed by a selfless decision is sometimes all it takes to change lives. They were his family and family does everything for each other. No matter what it costs...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover Picture: http://mirage-05.deviantart.com/art/Sacrifices-Cover-572842456

PROLOGUE

His steps, albeit quick in pace, felt like they grow heavier and heavier as the sannin made the dreaded sprint back to his old village. He didn’t expect to be… so outrageous, not after so many years, so many experiences and so many…

Changes…

His gaze wandered down to the biggest change in his whole existence, as if to check he’s still there, protected in his embrace. Protected… His blood began to boil and signs of regret etched itself into his golden orbs as he took in Mitsuki’s, his boy’s, already fair skin color getting paler and paler by the second, creating an ugly contrast to the gash on his abdomen and the burn marks across his chest. If only he was there sooner… If only he spent more time with him… Sure, there were the times he sneaked into the village just to check on the boy. Heck, he should give it to him, that Naruto brat was actually a decent person, he did let him see Mitsuki from time to time…

It had not been enough.

Feelings like he never experienced before threatened to overcome him as he looked at his son’s eyes… his eyes. Mitsuki was glancing carefully up at him, and it literally hurt the sannin to see the light slowly fading from his irises. When his boy was little, Orochimaru liked to compare their eyes. His own was more like the cold, imposing gold, while Mitsuki… his eyes were warm and bright, like… the sun. It gave him physical pain, the thought that his sun might go out…

His hold tightened only slightly and a new vigour hastened his pace. He would get him the necessary help. And then… there will be consequences.

He felt a faint grip on the front of his shirt, and through the suddenly very still air, a weak whisper reached his ears. “Dad…”

He immediately looked down. Mitsuki blinked slowly once, trying to maintain his hold as his hands shake. Orochimaru felt his heart skip a beat, but he tried to keep his calm. “Don’t waste your strength. We’re almost at the border.”

The blue haired boy parted his lips slightly once again, and his father had to lean a bit over him to hear him properly. “Please… spare… the village…”

Orochimaru drew back slightly, shocked at the words. “What…?”

“Please… promise…” Mitsuki murmured, the words coming more strained as his breathing hitched. “Not their… fault…”

He had his doubts about that. He wanted to tell him that they were going to pay. They were going to pay dearly for putting his baby boy right in the middle of danger, not even thinking twice. He wanted to say that he would snuff the fire of will from Konoha, just like how they made his sun sink.

Looking into those eyes, though, the words didn’t form. Instead, his fury drowning in the compassion he felt for his child now, he found himself whispering. “I will leave them be. I promise.”

He felt Mitsuki relax in his arms as a very small smile lifted the corners of his lips gently. His next word was so faint that Orochimaru wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the wind. “Thanks…”

Pale fingers slid from the shirt as the young boy completely slacked against his father. The sannin watched, horrified, as the sun set with a sigh of breath.

“Mitsuki…?” he whispered, unable to comprehend what was happening in front of him, and the world came to a standstill. “Mitsuki!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1st chapter pic: http://mirage-05.deviantart.com/art/Sacrifices-Prologue-Illustration-558707804


	2. The Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter goes back 3 days before the events of the prologue.  
> The events of this fanfic happen a year after Naruto Gaiden and about 8 months after Boruto: Naruto the Movie.

CHAPTER 1. - THE ATTACK

Seventy-two hours before…

Blood-chilling screams filled Konoha’s still and warm air as the unmistakable power of an explosion shook the ground.

It was supposed to be a peaceful night for the Hokage. His duties for the day didn’t involve anything that demanded his immediate attention, so he actually wanted to spend a normal, stress-free night with his family.

His relaxed mind immediately snapped to business mode as he sprinted from the place he sat next to his wife in their cozy living room. Vaguely registering his son asking him whether he could help or not, he stepped out of the house.

And was immediately rushed to by a jounin. “Where?” he asked curtly in form of greeting as the two of them started running side by side.

“The orphanage,” the ninja gasped out, at which Naruto increased his speed. The kids… There were kids under attack. Kids, who were under his protection… Kids, who are the future of the villages…

“Kurama!” he shouted through gritted teeth, and felt the presence of the giant fox materializing right beside him.

“About damn time.” he hard him growl as a blood-thirsty smile flashed a set of pointy teeth.

“Not now,” Naruto hissed as their chakras merged. A familiar surge of power engulfed him and he hastened his pace as houses, nature, everything flew past him.

With the added speed, he was able to reach the outskirts of the town in mere minutes. What he saw, however, made him come to a sudden stop just a couple of kilometers away from his destination.

 

The whole building was in flames. The black, choking smoke rose high into the air, which was full of panicked, terrified screams, and a horrid smell. Among the flames and smoke, he could just barely make out the heads of one, two… three snakes, snapping around the air at what was undoubtedly attack after attack sent to them from every direction, their tails swirling around.

“Snakes…?” he mumbled in shock, as it only brought one person to his mind, and he felt his hands curling into fists unconsciously.

“Are you gonna just stand there and stare all night, boy?” Kurama hissed. “Let’s go make some snacks out of those creepers!”

And just like that, they were off, joining in on the chaos.

Naruto let Kurama go, he needed him to hold off the snakes as he barged into the institution to save those he can.

It was not easy. First, the institution was really quite big, he would be confused if he didn’t came in an emergency, too. He could use a water release, but it was too hot here, so he wasn’t sure if that would help. An air release might make things even worse, spreading the fire. And, strategically speaking, he didn’t know if any of the children were evacuated, either.

None of that mattered then, though. Calling forth his shield, he raised his voice above the crackling flames, hoping against hope that someone would hear him - and answer.

“Is anyone here? Can you hear me?”

…

Kurama rose high above the sky with a mighty roar. Hearing this, all the snakes turned their heads at him, one by one. They hissed when they saw the giant beast.

“Oooh, look, brothers,” said one of them, baring his fangs. “The Hokage’s pet comes out to play.”

“It should be a shame, really,” the other one hissed. “Was it really you who once terrorized this pathetic village?”

“Bet you get rusted without all the action.” teased the last one, the red light of the fire glinting off his glassy eyes.

Kurama grinned maliciously as he bared his claws. “Talk all you want. We will see whose head goes down first.”

With that, he attacked.

…

That… was a close one.

Just when he was headed to the stairs to go up, he had seen movement out of the corner of his eye, and found a group of children hiding under the stairs, shivering in fear, too afraid to move. Naruto ran to them, just as a rubble fell from above.

He did a quick count. There were… ten children here, four of them the Shin clones who were brought here a little more than a year ago. Them and the other kids were huddled up, eyes huge, and he saw tears shining on some of their faces. His expression softened, and his voice took a gentle quality.

“You can run out to the front door. The shield will provide you safety.”

The children feebly mumbled thank you before they turned away. Naruto caught the arm of one of them gently.

“Is there anyone upstairs? Do you know?”

The boy was one of the Shin brothers. He tried not to gulp when saw tears brimming the edge of the scarlet sharingan eyes. He was no different than the other kids. Scared. In need of an assurance that everything will be okay.

“Yes,” the boy whispered, and avoided his eyes. “My brothers… Most of us stay there.”

Feeling as though his heart had just skipped a beat, Naruto nodded. “Go.”

As Shin made his way towards the door, Naruto turned and ran up towards the stairs, as fast as he could through the black smoke that shortened his sight.

…

Kurama quickly stepped aside as one of the snakes snapped at him, and grabbed the snake’s head, crushing on it with all his might. The snake sputtered and tried to take a bite, but to no effect. The fox lifted him high above the ground and throw it as far away as he could.

He felt something collide to his back and without looking, he spun around and kicked. The second snake dodged his attack, coiled on the ground and struck once again. The five-inch long fangs that would have been deadly in another situation embedded themselves into the outstreched arm of the fox, who just shook it to get rid of the snake. Both of the snakes then rose to their full height on either side of him, baring their fangs, and then…

Kurama saw, out of the corner of his eye, a yellow flash momentarily, through the landscape, far away from the eastern border of Konoha. Something the humans on the ground possibly can’t see. If he wouldn’t know better, his best guess would be a lightning bolt, but it seemed unlikely. More like this was meant to be seen by… 

The snake on his right drew his head back in, suddenly wary. “Here is the signal. Let’s draw back.”

“Let’s.” the other hissed.

“You’re not going anywhere!” the fox roared and leapt forward, but the snakes easily slithered away from his crushing grasp.

“That was easy. Maybe you should practice a little bit more.” one of the snakes shouted back tauntingly.

“You…” the fox began, ready to follow after them, but a deafening rumble caught his attention.

…

Naruto was just escorting a third group out of the building when it happened.

“Naruto!” he heard Kurama yell. “The ceiling is coming down, get out of there!”

But there were still kids inside!

Naruto left the kids with the ninjas outside and immediately turned back, about to rush in once more, when the whole building collapsed and he was pushed back by Kurama.

And then… there was nothing but dead silence.

Naruto jumped to his feet once again, and even the scene of the orphanage’s ruins didn’t stop him from running towards the rubbles, searching, in vain, for someone who might still be alive.

…

The toll was greater than they imagined.

“Thir… ty?” Naruto whispered, unable to believe his ears.

The ninja who was in charge of the operation until he came nodded sadly. “My lord, the upper floor… It was as if they knowingly targeted there. And the children, they were sleeping…”

The hokage closed his eyes for a moment, as if to wish all these didn’t really happen, all these innocent children didn’t just die. When he opened his eyes once more to the bitter reality, the sad look in his eyes had hardened into a determined, grave look.

“Do we have any leads for the culprit?”

“Do we need leads?” a kunoichi spoke from the gathered group. “Lord seventh… we only know one person who uses snakes who will attack Konoha. Orochimaru.”

Orochimaru. The legendary sannin that everyone in Konoha feared, if not so openly, so much so that his name had been a taboo for years.

The name he had first come up with when he saw the snakes.

The one… former enemy, that they haven’t heard from in a long time.

Why now?…

“We need more evidences to jump to that conclusion,” he said at last, also implying that he’s not completely disregarding the theory.

“That won’t be necessary.”

From the back of the crowd, Kabuto, the director of the orphanage, came forward in his wheelchair. One look at his face, and Naruto couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Kabuto really, truly loved the kids here, and such a huge loss had taken its toll on him. He seemed to have aged during this short period of time.

Before Naruto could say anything, Kabuto looked up with a fierce expression in his eyes. “I saw the man behind this attack just minutes before the explosion. And he wore the curse mark on his neck.”


	3. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to a small mistake with the birthdays, Mitsuki was made the youngest of Team Konohamaru. When we remembered that the youngest is actually Sarada, we were already too advanced in the story to change it.

CHAPTER 2 - THE AFTERMATH

“The sudden and violent attack on the Konoha orphanage left citizens shocked and in fear as the threat of a former enemy lurks over Konoha. While there is no confirmation that the incident is indeed linked to Orochimaru, one of the two legendary sannins still alive, the Hokage office searches for every possible clue. Thirty of the kids who are…”

That was when Mitsuki decided that he didn’t want to listen to more of it and turned off the television.

The sun was barely up and the Konohamaru platoon was supposed to meet later for an easy mission and a training, but its youngest member had not slept very well to greet the new day. The days leading to the new moon had always been hard for him, and this cycle has been no exception, only topped with the recent incident.

Was it really his father?

Not much has been publicized yet about last night, and although Mitsuki didn’t really believe his father was in any way involved, he found himself wondering why the sannin had been the first person to come to mind. It wasn’t really a matter of trust, because he refused to believe Orochimaru could act on impulse and without a good reason. It was a matter of curiousity.

He proceeded to the kitchen to take a pill for his increasing headache when he heard his phone chime. He picked it up to see a text message from his best friend.

'Wanna catch up with us for a late b-fast? Sensei is gonna meet us there later.'

He thought about it for a moment, then typed: 'Sure.'

Maybe a little walk could do good to clear up his head a little.

…

It was a nice day outside, the early days of spring when it is neither too cold nor extremely hot.

They were to meet in a cafe they had frequented over the past year, when they kind of got bored of the numerous fast-food restaurants around the town. It was small, cozy and didn’t have many customers around this hour, so it had, in one way or another, became their safe harbor.

“We were beginning to wonder when you would be coming,” Sarada said good-naturedly when she saw Mitsuki approaching. “Boruto was about to come and get you.”

“I walked around for a while,” Mitsuki said simply.

Boruto and Sarada looked at each other for the shortest of seconds.

“Is everything alright?” Sarada asked hesitantly.

“Yup. So when will we get going?” said the blue-haired boy, sitting down on the chair next to Boruto and grabbing the toast that was among the many things his friends ordered.

“Konohamaru sensei said he will be here in about half an hour.” Boruto explained, also digging in. “Seems like we have a simple mission at hand, and then a training afterward.”

“Do you know what kind of mission?”

“Well, we thought it might have something to do with… the orphanage,” Sarada said and Mitsuki actually stopped for a second before he moved on to take a bite from the toast. “Apparently, there is a lot of things that need being done, and most genin teams are already assigned.”

When his friend kept his silence, Boruto frowned a little. “Dude… you sure you don’t want to talk?”

The blue-haired boy looed at him with raised eyebrows. “And you become the team therapist, when…?”

“You know what I mean! If you…”

“Boruto.” Mitsuki cut in, giving him a level look. “I’m not gonna break down or anything, as you well know, so let’s just eat in peace, okay?”

The blond thought better than to push forward. “Sure.” he said, returning to his meal.

…

“So your mission is to supervise the children in grade class for two periods, because their teacher has gone to his wife’s childbirth.”

“We’re going to babysit?” Boruto grumbled with a slight pout.

Konohamaru sighed. “I said supervising. And it won’t take long.These children are reported to be very well-mannered. Just give them some reading, maybe play some word games or something, and you’ll do just fine.”

“Weren’t there any new genin-graduates who could handle this? Couldn’t we have a more challenging mission, seeing that we competed in the Chunin exams last year?”

“Hokage’s orders.” the jounin put simply, knowing the real reason behind the decision, but not having the heart to explain it to the kids. All of their academy classmates who had become genins were given tasks to clean up the orphanage and help oversee the control in the area, but with growing hostility towards Orochimaru and the whole village already knowing who Mitsuki was related to, Naruto didn’t want Konohamaru platoon to be anywhere close, just in case. “Keep in mind that there are all kinds of tasks that need attention in the village everyday. Right now it is your assignment, and you are expected to be there in half an hour.”

“What about you, sensei?” Sarada asked, although doubting that they will need his help on that.

“I will be attending to other business in the village. But as I promised, we will meet in the late afternoon for training. For now, good luck with your mission.”

…

It turned out that they would need that luck after all.

“Come again?” Boruto asked in a confused tone. The three of them were standing in front of the class, facing a number of fifteen six-year-old students.

“Where do babies come from?” asked a brunette boy from the back of the class in a very serious voice, his expression meaning business. “Our sensei is gone to meet his baby, and so we are curious.”

Boruto looked first at Mitsuki, who shrugged, and then at Sarada, who looked very awkward. The Uchiha then cleared her throat, blushed a little and put on an embarrassed smile. “Uh… from the hospital… I guess.”

The kids didn’t look at all impressed with the answer.

“Well, duh…”

“Laaame…”

“We’re not three-year-olds, y'know.”

Both Boruto and Sarada turned to look at Mitsuki at that moment, wearing a do you have a better explanation? face. The younger boy thought about it for a second.

“Well, sometimes…” he began, making each head in the class turn eagerly towards him. “They come from the test tubes, too.” he finished helpfully, and heard his friends gasp.

There was an awed silence as the grade class kept staring at the blue-haired boy and Mitsuki actually started wondering if he said something wrong.

“That’s… wow…” one of the kids whispered at last.

“Way original from that ‘brought by the stork’ story.”

“Hey, does that mean there is a baby lab somewhere?”

Mitsuki didn’t know how to answer that, and another awkward silence fell on the three genin. “Eh…”

“Okay, uh, so we were told that you have a reading assignment,” Sarada immediately interjected before the kids would come up with something equally embarrassing. “So turn your books to page 197 and carry on.”

She was immediately met with protests - and loud ones at that.

“Heeey, we thought we had skipped that.”

“You’re not our sensei, give us something funny to do!”

As the kids’ complaints got louder and louder, Boruto finally lost his patience - were they this nagging themselves when they were at this age? And how can anyone consider these brats as well-mannered?? “BE QUIET, DATTEBASA!”

The kids all hushed up at that, their eyes going wide. Satisfied, the blond smirked. “Now go on with the reading.”

…

Konohamaru checked his watch, wondering how his students were doing. It was nearly 3.30 pm, so the team had an hour more to finish the mission.

He began reassassing the training session he planned for them when he saw a chuunin approaching him. They greeted each other briefly.

“There will be a meeting in Lord Hokage’s office in an hour, to which you’re required to attend.” the chuunin explained. “There will be a briefing to all the clan leaders and higher-ranked ninjas about yesterday’s incident.”

That meant that he would have to cancel the training, but this was important. “I’ll be right there.”

…

It was the last period, in which the team had moved from reading assignments to word games, seeing that it was getting really boring just standing there idly, staring at the children. The game was quite simple, every person had to find a noun with the last syllable of the word given by the previous person, and if anyone wasn’t paying attention, they were left out of the game. It became such fun that the trio just had to join in themselves.

“Hmm…” Boruto thought for a minute, eyebrows slightly furrowed in concentration. “Hiro.”

“Hah!” the kid before him exclaimed with a smug expression. “Got it wrong! It’s 'hii’, not 'hi’!”

“What? It was 'hi’ too!”

“Was not!”

“Was too!”

“Was not! I said 'Koohii’, as in coffee! You baka, you’re out!”

“Now, look here you little…”

“Boruto cut it out, let’s move on.”

“Didn’t know you were a sore loser… Banana-head.” the kid mumbled in what he probably thought was an undertone. At that, the whole class burst into laughter.

Boruto, who was clearly flushed, was still quick with a comeback. “If you don’t cut it out now, Mitsuki here will have to restrain you with his noodle arms.”

That actually rendered the kids speechless for a moment, which was broken again when a completely baffled Mitsuki asked, “My what?”

“That’s for calling me banana-head.”

“But I never called you… banana-head.”

“Well, you just did.”

The kids were all cracking up, which made Sarada smile despite of herself. They… were handling this mission good enough.

Then the girl sitting directly in front of her looked up at her with big eyes. “Do you have a funny name, too?”

The whole class was holding its breath now.

“What?” Sarada asked, blushing ever so slightly. “No, I don’t!”

“Of course she does!” Boruto chimed, suddenly very much into this name-game now that his best friend also had a food related name. Sarada stiffened. 'You are not gonna say that.’ she thought, frustrated. But of course, Boruto did just that. “Her name literally means Salad!”

Anyone passing by the classroom would’ve had a double take hearing all the ruckus coming from inside. The kids were laughing so hard that some of them were actually crying.

“Uzumaki Boruto, you’re so dead!”

'Uh oh!’ Mitsuki thought as he saw Sarada rush forward to jump on Boruto, and did two quick handsigns. His arms suddenly extended sideways as his jutsu worked and caught Boruto and Sarada from their middles, sending each of them to a corner of the classroom.

“Not in front of them.” he warned his friends.

The team was caught unawared when the kids started cheering and clapping, clearly enjoying themselves. “Go, food team!” one of them yelled, which only got more cheers.

And the trio couldn’t help but join in the laughter after that.

They only realized the bell had rung when they heard other classes getting out.

…

“Thank you for your trouble.” the school’s headmaster said warmly, smiling at the Konohamaru platoon. “The kids apparently had a great time and I actually got a few of their fellow students wanting to know if you can come to their spare lessons, too.”

“Thank you, Mikoto-sensei.” Sarada said respectfully. “We enjoyed our time here, too.”

“Now, one more thing before you go.” the woman said. “Your sensei dropped in a message earlier, asking me to tell you that he couldn’t make it to the training.”

“What? Why not?” Boruto asked.

“He didn’t specify.” the woman said simply. “You may go now. I will send my report to lord seventh first thing tomorrow.”

The blond waited until after they got out of the office to voice his thoughts in an undertone. “Sensei is better not meeting my aunt.”

…

The meeting hall was filled to its maximum capacity.

Konohamaru, seated in the front lines where the Sarutobi clan members were, took a look around the huge room. All the seven important clans were here, including his, as well as many important jounins and the ANBU. Naruto, the sixth Kakashi Hatake and some of their trustees were standing at the very front, facing all those who had gathered. They had just briefed all the Hokage office gathered about last night.

For some odd reason, the setting reminded him of trials.

There was a buzz of talking, which ceased immediately when Naruto cleared his throat. At the small pause before he started, Konohamaru met the eyes of Hyuuga Hanabi, who blushed slightly and gave him a very small smile, which he returned.

“We’ve analyzed the nature and technique of last night’s attack thoroughly.” Naruto began, and everyone in the room returned to business mode. “The odds are in favor that Orochimaru is indeed after the attack. Three eye-witnesses reported that his curse mark was visible on the culprit.”

Naruto paused for a moment. Everyone in the hall kept their silence, but some of them looked at each other, as if coming to a silent agreement.

“Now as for the precautions, we will triple the border guards and change the frequency of their shifts…”

Konohamaru heard his clan’s leader clearing his throat. Naruto looked over at him. 

“Yes, Sarutobi Kichiro-san?” he asked politely.

“Excuse my intervention, Nanadaime-sama,” Kichiro started in a somewhat cold manner. “But I’m sure all of us here are aware of the very first precaution we have to take.”

There were murmurings around the room.

“Please, share.” Naruto prompted, still politely formal.

Kichiro looked at the people gathered in the hall. “We have been tolerating this for so long, but we had been doing it wrong from the beginning.” He turned and looked at Naruto directly in the eyes. “Exile that kid, Mitsuki, from Konoha. Our hospitality for the snake’s boy has run its course.”


	4. Naruto's Decision

Chapter 3 - Naruto’s Decision

A dead silence followed as everyone in the meeting hall held their breath, intent on Naruto’s answer.

“Let’s not rush into anything,” Naruto finally replied coolly.

“Rush? This happened because we weren’t quick enough for judgement. Don’t let your past cloud your decisions this time.”

“I believe I’m capable of handling that part, thank you very much,” Naruto said with a small squint, his tone decidedly colder than before.

Unconsciously, Konohamaru was aware that his hands were balled into fists, resting on the armsets of his chair. He felt ready to pounce up from where he sat, just waiting for another trigger.

“I believe Sarutobi-san has a good point. It will be for the good of the village that the boy goes away.”

That was it.

“Hey, that’s MY student you’re talking about!” he snapped as he shot up, turning to face whoever had just spoken.

It was his former sensei, Ebisu. He had never really liked the man, but at that instant, it turned into a great distaste.

“Your student, let me remind you, whose father has killed your grandfather, the Third.”

“I know what Orochimaru did, but I’m not blaming Mitsuki for this!” the jounin shot back unbelievably. Did anyone really think he would take that on on a child?

The people in the room was watching the exchange intently, their eyes going from one to the other as if it was a tennis match. “I thought I taught you better than this.” Ebisu finally said, adjusting his glasses.

“No, you only tried to teach me your point of view! Excuse me if I don’t want a story like Lord Seventh’s to repeat itself!”

“Konohamaru,” Naruto interjected softly. “That would do. I’m not bringing personal matters into this topic. And I would like everyone to act with the same sensitivity.” he said, looking into Kichiro’s eyes.

“Then don’t. This isn’t just a personal matter, this is a concern for all of the village. If that will deter any threats, the Hyuga demands the child to be exiled, too.”

The jounin turned sharply to where the Hyuga clan sat, eyes widening. There she was, Hanabi, standing upright, and determinedly not looking towards him.

“You… you didn’t just seriously say that.”

Hanabi raised her head then, and he saw a hint of sadness pass through her expression before it was replaced by determination. “That’s the resolution of the Hyuga.” she repeated once again.

“Who knows what was the reason of him being sent here?” someone from the Nara clan interjected. “We all know what kind of being Orochimaru is…”

“Yeah, that would be his father,” Shikamaru called from up front, his eyebrows a little furrowed. “The kid’s name is Mitsuki.”

“We don’t know what kind of training he underwent with that traitor,” a member of the Inuzuka put in matter-of-factly. “For all we know, he could be trained to be a killer.”

“What?” Kiba scoffed, making the member of his clan turn to look at him. “How and when did we come to that deduction? He is just a kid.”

“Kiba, just because you and Akamaru developed a liking to the boy doesn’t mean he is a good person.” Kiba’s sister put in gently.

“You are saying that, Hana? You know better than me how the bond works between our dogs and other people.”

“Well… this doesn’t mean people can’t be deceiving. And old age does affect Akamaru…”

She stopped mid-sentence when Kiba came to stand right in front of her.

“If he was a bad person, heck, even a killer, do you think he would take care of the pup? Or rather leave him alone? Or heck, if he was anything like his father, he could’ve just killed him to end his suffering. So tell me again why not to trust him.” Kiba turned away from his sister, and addressed to the front. “I hereby claim my clan’s view as ridiculous.”

The Inuzuka were left speechless.

“I think we do need to think this matter out of the box.” said someone from beside him, and Konohamaru turned to look at his younger cousin, Mirai. She had crossed her arms, and there was a firm expression on her face. “Like it or not, the kid is one of Konoha, and we should not just send him out there all alone just because.”

“Why? What do you think that could happen? He’s just a child after all.” That was from Udon, his old teammate, and he had said it so casually, like it was nothing, that Konohamaru had the sudden urge to punch him.

“That’s exactly our point.” Kurenai joined in beside her daughter. Apparently, not all of those in their clan were jerks. “Some of us are willing to treat this case as if we are judging an adult whose treachery was proved. I see no such proof, hence, no such haste.”

“That’s exactly where our system has its flaws,” Ibiki, the head of the interrogation squad cut in. “That kind of premonition whether we should take action in the wake of a possible threat. So many examples from the past, and we still haven’t learned our lesson.”

“Whoa, back up there for a second, do you even listen to what you are talking about?” Sakura exclaimed, holding her hands up. “How is that even fair? Blaming someone even before he did something?”

“What is wrong with a precaution? Do we need to take them only after things like this happen?” one of the ANBU said in a decidedly calm, emotionless voice.

“And it’s not really like we cannot make the connection here.” This came from Anko, Orochimaru’s former student. “This is no ordinary person we are talking about. If anything, this kid is nothing more than a test subject whose intentions we know nothing about. Konoha shouldn’t take such risks.”

“Why don’t all of you stop talking about the kid like he’s an object?” Shino interjected. “He was one of my students, too, and I assure you that there were no weird behaviors that were displayed. To the contrary, he is quite normal for his age.”

“And how do we know he is not play-acting?”

“Enough.”

All of those who had been arguing stopped to look at Naruto, and the room went very silent.

“All of your views are taken into consideration. However…”

“I demand a voting.” Kichiro said immediately, and although Naruto didn’t say anything, it was clear that he didn’t like it.

“Voting over what?” Kakashi asked calmly. “A voting is not necessary.”

“Konoha is not gonna exile anybody.” Tsunade put in simply, crossing her arms.

“This is not a light decision the Hokage office could alone make, not with so many clashing opinions. We demand voting, too.” Hanabi added.

A buzz surrounded the room as many people agreed with the two heads of the clans. Naruto sighed and then raised his voice once again.

“We will have a break. You may discuss the issue. The voting will start in fifteen minutes.”

…

He probably shouldn’t have, but Konohamaru still went to find Hanabi as soon as they filed out of the meeting room. The Hyuga turned to him, wide-eyed when he grabbed her arm.

“Hanabi, stop this.”

He watched as the black haired girl regained her composure after the initial moment of being caught off-guard. “Stop what?” she asked in a formal manner.

“What you’ve been saying… That can’t be what you truly think! I know who you are, c'mon, Hana, you know this is not right deep down in your heart…”

“Konohamaru,” she said, brows furrowed as a serious expression crossed her face. “Please, remember that this is a formal meeting, so there is no place for all these.”

“Ugh! Just look into my eyes and tell me that is what you truly think!”

“That’s enough! I made it a point not to involve my personal feelings in village business.”

That was the last straw, and Konohamaru fet ice coating his tone when he next spoke. “I’m sorry, Lady Hanabi. I guess I never realized you didn’t have a heart.”

He saw a hurt fleeting hurt look in her eyes before they turned hard as steel. “Well, some of us have to think with their brains, not with their hearts.”

The jounin didn’t stay long after that.

It seemed like they weren’t the only ones having a heated argument.

“Why do we always have to follow the Sarutobi?” Ino was asking to the head of the Yamanaka. “How can we blindly continue to support them even when the cause is wrong?”

“You know, she actually has a point…” one of the Yamanaka members mused thoughtfully.

“Our alliance should never falter,” Chouji’s father was saying. “It always helps to maintain a strong front against our enemies.”

“Us maintaining a weak free will?” Choji asked sarcastically, earning himself a nasty look.

It sounded like there was too much opposition, too much hate, so much so that it seemed to burst out of the hall itself. Not being able to take much more of it, Konohamaru hurried out of the building.

He couldn’t believe it. Since when did people of Konoha forget that they were supposed to be human beings?

In his frustration, he kicked at some of the pebbles.

’This was not the last they will hear from me,’ he thought angrily, gritting his teeth. ’It is not gonna go down like this.’

“Konohamaru-san?”

He turned to the doorway to find Shizune there.

“The voting is about to start.” she said. “Lord seventh expects all who will attend to proceed to the meeting room.”

…

Naruto looked at those who were filing the room one by one, formulating his response in his mind as he did so. There were so many people, nearing a total of at least a hundred. He dared to hope not everyone had a hardened heart.

When at last the door was closed behind the last person, Naruto cleared his throat to get attention.

“We are going to do it like this,” he began. “All of those who are in favor of…” he hesitated before saying the word. “exiling the child…” he continued, emphasizing the last word. “Please take your place on the left side of the room.”

He waited with bated breath as people started filing to the left.

More than half…

Naruto felt his heart sank as he looked at the considerably few people left. He was relieved that at least none of his friends agreed with that view, although it pained him to see all of the Hyuga, led by his sister-in-law, Hanabi, were on the left corner.

He sighed. “In the case that some of you wish to remain neutral, those who are against, please move to the right.”

There were only a few people in the middle of the room. 

Naruto took a deep breath, feeling all of their eyes on him.

“Before I announce my decision, I would like to remind all of you of one thing.” he began, and out of the corner of his eyes, saw some on the left stir uncomfortably. “We have been through many hardships. Many wars that cost many lives. Through the years I have served as your hokage, it had always been my priority to prevent differences turning into marginalization, mistakes turning into grudges… If I was to exile a child for the mistakes of his parent, I would go against everything I believed that would make me a good and fair leader.”

“A leader should be ready to take action and defend his people. You have indeed gone soft over years of peace.”

A loud thud cut into Kichiro’s rant, and Naruto looked up with fire in his eyes.

“That,” he snapped through gritted teeth, finally at the end of his patience, “has nothing to do with going soft over peace. I am not going to judge or punish a child for something that is beyond his control!”

“If we do not take immediate action, there will be more regrets! Lord Third would never…”

That was a low blow, one which made Naruto flinch, and Kichiro actually stopped himself before he said something worse. Konohamaru scoffed.

“Bah. If you think my grandfather would ever shun a child because of something this stupid, you never got to know him at all.”

“It’s my final decision.” Naruto put in, slowly but firmly. “Mitsuki stays. The meeting is hereby dismissed.”

There was an uproar of protests, which Naruto mostly tuned out - until the Sarutobi leader’s voice once again reached him.

“You will see that this was not the right decision to be made. This matter is far from over.”

Something in his tone made the blond go cold. “Kichiro-san,” he called over the rumble. “Do not forget about the decree - noone is allowed to harm the child under any circumstances.”

The elder was just about to step out of the hall. When he heard him, he turned to look at the younger straight in the eyes. “You, don't forget this - the decree has already been broken - and not by us.”


	5. Unwanted

CHAPTER 4 - UNWANTED

She was having a very good dream.

They were at a family picnic, and the sun shone brightly on the clear river flowing beside them, and on her mother’s soft pink hair. Sarada always loved her mother’s hair color, was more than a little bitter at one time because she had her father’s onyx strands. It seemed so bright and lively.

She noticed then that they were not alone. Boruto and his family were nearby, and Himawari had just brought them a bunch of flowers. Smiling warmly at her, Sarada took the flowers.

It was nice… but for some reason, she couldn’t shake away the feeling that they were missing something… someone.

Something hit her shoulder from behind and made a loud thump sound, although it didn’t hurt. She looked at her side to notice that it was a pebble stone. She turned around to see who threw it…

…

Sarada sat upright, eyes wide, looking at her window.

Mitsuki was standing there with a huge smile on his face. Aside from the fact that Sarada’s room was on the second floor, he…

was…

hanging upside down, and was still smiling as if it was nothing…

…

Sakura and Sasuke jolted awake when an ear-piercing scream resounded from their daughter’s room.

“Sarada!” Sakura gasped and rushed to the door without waiting for her husband, who she then noticed that had crushed on the floor.

“Where’s the fire?” came his groggy voice, and it was all Sakura did not to roll her eyes.

…

After the initial shock - and after she calmed down enough to remember that Mitsuki could use his jutsu to dangle from anywhere, Sarada jumped up from her bed and ran to the window to let the boy in. 

“Are you crazy? Ugh, wait, don’t answer that!” she added hastily, to which the boy laughed. “What are you doing, up at this hour? It’s barely six a.m.!”

“Oh, but we have to go!”

“We have to…” Sarada then remembered. “Oh.”

“Sarada!” she heard someone call at the time and a minute later, her door burst open, Sasuke and Sakura rushing in. “Is everything alright?”

Both of them came to a sudden stop when they took the scene in.

Mitsuki smiled serenely. “Good morning Mr. Uchiha, Mrs. Uchiha.”

Sarada saw her father’s right eye beginning to twitch, which was not a good sign. Although thinking back to all the weird experiences her parents had with her rather eccantric teammate, she had to give it to her dad that he was actually doing a pretty good job, keeping his calm.

Sakura was the first to snap out of it. “G-good morning, Mitsuki.”

“Would you mind me taking Sarada out for a while?” the boy continued, still calm and smiling. “We had plans…”

“What plans?” Sasuke asked immediately, a dangerous hint in his voice. “Sarada?”

Sarada felt herself going a little red - she completely forgot. “P-papa, p-please calm down… It’s a surprise for Boruto…”

Seeing that Sasuke was about to come back with a snarky remark, Sakura immediately cut in. “At least let’s have some breakfast first.”

“No can do, sorry, we really need to hurry,” Mitsuki said cheerfully, not sounding sorry at all. “I’ll be waiting downstairs then, alright, Sarada?”

And just like that, he was out of the window, the way he came in.

“I swear, that boy…” Sasuke mumbled in an undertone.

“Sasuke.” Sakura said pointedly. The black haired man turned to find his daughter staring at them, obviously waiting for them to get out so she can change.

As they closed the door behind, he couldn’t help but add. “Maybe it was the best that the boy left.”

Sakura rammed an elbow into his side, at which Sasuke made a face. “Hush. Be nice to the boy. I have a feeling that he’s got hard times awaiting for him.”

…

“So… where are we headed to first?” Sarada asked while rubbing sleep away from her eyes.

“Oh, I just really want to get at least some of the decorations done before the training.” Mitsuki explained, and the Uchiha couldn’t help but notice how really enthusiastic her friend was. “We’re gonna stop by the carpenter now, to buy all those wooden stuff…”

“We’re gonna spend half of our money from the missions on stuff that won’t last out long in the open,” Sarada pouted slightly, trying to reason with him.

“The older and more worn out they look, the better!”

“Really, Mitsuki… Don’t you think this is a bit childish? Boruto’s gonna turn fourteen, y'know…”

“What’s wrong with childish? We’re only children, and we live once. Why not enjoy it while we’re at it?”

Maybe it was his endless giddiness that finally affected her, but Sarada couldn’t help but smile and go with it after that. “Yeah, sure.”

…

“That will be two hundred ryos, young lady.”

Sarada sighed as she looked around for her friend. They had agreed to pay half-by-half for whatever they bought, but he was suddenly distracted when they were at the counter - though only God knows by what.

Deciding to humor him for this once, Sarada took out her purse, and was about to take some money out when…

“Hey, Sarada-chan, check this out!”

The black haired girl gasped and turned back. Her friend had sneaked upon her (which shouldn’t have been surprising her by this point), holding up what seemed to be a brightly colored parrot carved out of wood.

“Cute,” she said as a small grin made its way to her face. “What is a pirate without a parrot, right?”

“Yup,” Mitsuki said, grinning himself. Then he turned to the shop-owner. “How much is this?”

Sarada watched her friend’s smile turning into a surprised expression, and turned to the man herself.

The man was… well, he was not glaring at the younger boy, but the look in his eyes was so icy that Sarada felt her insides going cold all of a sudden. It felt like, for some odd reason, the man was not boding anything good for Mitsuki right then and there, who had done nothing at all. Even if he did… she couldn’t imagine what could stir such a cold hatred.

Instead of answering the boy’s question, the man turned completely towards her. “Two hundred ryos, miss.”

“Umm… maybe you didn’t hear my friend…” she started.

“I want to buy this myself.” Mitsuki said excitedly. “I didn’t buy him a gift yet, though, so if it’s cheap…”

The man barely looked at the parrot before mumbling, “Four hundred ryos.”

That was even more shocking. Sarada looked at the things she was carrying - there were four pieces, with only one of them being as brightly colored as the parrot. It was a ridiculous price difference - and something told her that it was not the real price at all.

“There has to be a mistake…” Mitsuki began.

“Take it or leave it!” the man snapped, finally turning to face the blue-haired boy, and the furious expression on his face actually made the boy take a step back.

Still at a loss of why this was happening, and a little disturbed and sad of how her friend’s joyful expression suddenly vanished, the girl intervened. “Okay, Mitsuki, why don’t you go outside and wait? This will be by me, you can buy him another gift.”

Mitsuki didn’t say anything as he gave the parrot to Sarada and walked outside the shop. “What was that all about?” she snapped, turning back to the shop-owner. “Do you treat all your customers like that?”

“Excuse me, miss,” the man said, eyebrows furrowed. “but outsiders are not welcome here.”

…

She had been this close to losing her temper.

She didn’t know she could get this angry over someone dismissing and mistreating her friends, since they had no experience like that before. But that man calling Mitsuki an outsider and treating him like that… 

No, she wouldn’t have it. She already made a mental note to notify Boruto, or even the lord seventh himself about this, to make that guy pay.

But… that still didn’t make things right, because even though Mitsuki’s smile returned when they got far away and he started talking about his plans like nothing happened, there was that hint of sadness in his eyes.

In an attempt to cheer him up, she said the first thing that came to her mind. “Hey, I was wondering… How are we going to ditch Boruto after the training, anyway?”

“Oh, no worries about that.” the boy said, not looking at her, but directly ahead. “I have Hima and Lady Hinata on it. Hima is gonna tell Boruto she needs to name each one of her flowers - apparently, there are at least forty.”

“Wow, really?” Sarada asked, impressed. Then she laughed, though it sounded a little forced to her. “Oh god, I bet Boruto will love it.”

The blue-haired boy smiled a little, but it was fleeting. “It’s alright, Sarada.” he mused.

“Huh? What is alright?”

“That shop-owner… Maybe he was having a bad day… I’m not gonna make a big deal over it, so please don’t feel bad, too.”

“Mitsuki…” Sarada began, but didn’t know how to continue, because she didn’t have the heart to explain to him what it was really about.

“It’s alright,” he said again when they came in front of his apartment building. “Gimme a minute, won’t you?”

“Get the hell out of here while you still can.”

Both Mitsuki and Sarada turned to look at the entrance when they heard that.

A group of children had gathered in front of the building, arms crossed and very confrontational and agressive looks on their faces. They ranged in ages, but they all seemed to be older than the two. The Uchiha felt her heart sink as she noticed all of them, without exception, were glaring at her friend. 

“This is my home, why would I get away?” Mitsuki asked, baffled, and Sarada resisted the urge to facepalm.

Some of the kids who were gathered openly laughed, but the one in the front, who was apparently their leader, frowned. “Don’t play fool with us. You are no longer welcome here in this neighborhood, you freak.”

“Actually, make that in Konoha,” one of the children piped up maliciously.

“Outsider!” one among the crowd shouted, and the kids began chanting the phrase loudly.

Her temper already being on the brim by the continous harrassments and by how Mitsuki’s spirits were going lower and lower with each passing second, Sarada finally snapped. “WHO do you think you are, calling him an outsider? What in the world is wrong with you? He didn’t do anything to you!”

“Didn’t he, now?” the leader said, raising an eyebrow. “What, do you live in a cave?”

“No, that is that snake boy beside her, remember?”

“Crawl back to your hole, snake!”

Mitsuki was trying his hardest to keep his face straight, but it was slowly slipping. That… hurt. That outsider remark really hurt. Even when he first moved to Konoha, people never shunned him. Why were they being so agressive now?

“Why are you siding with him anyway, Uchiha?” one of the children called. “Don’t tell us your family is in league with him and his father again?”

That was the last straw, and the boy felt a different kind of rage rising inside him, one that had nothing to do with the taunts. “You keep her out of this.”

Some of the kids actually took a step back. “What - you gonna release those creepers on us as well?”

With that remark, suddenly Mitsuki realized why exactly this was happening and his eyes went wide, his anger dying all of a sudden, just like that.

“Stop it!” came a small voice, breaking in all the tension as everyone turned to the source of it.

A small boy… Shinrou, as Mitsuki remembered his name, was standing a few feet away from them, staring at them with huge eyes. His mother was standing a little further back, shopping bags in her arms, and her eyes… held the same condescending look.

“He is such a nice person!” Shinrou continued. “Why are you being so rude to him?”

He took a step forward, as if to go to Mitsuki and Sarada, but his mother gasped and ran forward to take him in her arms.

“You are not going near that snake!” she scolded, terrified.

The blue-haired boy’s heart sank, and he sagged a little as he finally understood everything.

“Mitsuki…”

Sarada held her breath when Mitsuki turned to look at her. There was such a sad look in his eyes that she felt her heart breaking, too.

“Let’s go in…” she whispered sadly.

Her friend just nodded, not being able to say anything.

…

At least trainings always distracted them a little.

“Where have you guys been?” Boruto asked a little glumly. “You don’t know how much fun we had with Konohamaru sensei - especially since you came ten minutes late.”

“How bad is it?” Sarada asked, slightly out of breath. “I needed Mitsuki’s help for something - we rushed back as soon as we could…”

“You could’ve told me, too, y'know,” Boruto said, still pouting. Then he looked at Mitsuki and frowned. “You alright?”

Mitsuki figured that he apparently wasn’t doing that good a job as he thought he was, and pulled himself together. “YUp. It’s fine.”

This had really been his phrase of the day.

“Boruto, we…” Sarada began.

“Alright, you three, listen up.” Konohamaru came to stand in front of them, a serious and quite grumpy look on his face, which took his team by surprise. “Today, we’re concentrating on taijutsu techniques. As always, we’ll start with the basic principles. So can any one of you remind me of the very first principle in hand-to-hand?”

“Keep it simple stupid.” Sarada piped up immediately.

“Good, Sarada. It is indeed useful to keep things simple and effective, as most ninjas view complicated and sophisticated techniques are the best in a taijutsu fight. Because taijutsu, compared to ninjutsu and genjutsu, is considered simple… and weak.”

“So if someone relies on taijutsu during a fight… It is expected that he should be an expert.” Mitsuki said.

“Like Lee-san.” Sarada put in.

“Exactly. For this, as first step, you have to know about your weaknesses and strengths. You, as genins, have to keep in mind that in any situation, you are the weakest link. So… tell me what is your strong points in taijutsu?”

“Does good-looks count?” Boruto piped in, to which Mitsuki laughed and Sarada shot him a very disapproving look.

Konohamaru’s grumpy look took an even darker tone. “Cheek is not gonna help you when you face with death.”

“Wow, Konohamaru sensei, you are such a ray of sunshine today.”

“Either tell me something useful or keep your quiet.”

“Geez, just because aunt Hanabi put you in a bad mood, is no reason to take it out on us.” the blond mumbled.

“What was that?”

Boruto sighed inaudibly, then straightened his back. “I have the Hyuga’s gentle fist. I would say that’s my strongest taijutsu technique.”

“Great. Sarada?”

“My punch. I enhance the power of it by concentrating my chakra in my fist.”

“Good. Mitsuki?”

“Uh… my elasticity. I can pretty much do any move.”

“Good. Now I want all of you… to forget about these.”

“Huh?” they asked, totally baffled.

“Those are your strongest points. Can any one of you tell me what the second most important principle in taijutsu is?”

Sarada gasped as she understood. “Make the enemy see your strengths as your weaknesses and your weaknesses as strengths.”

“That’s right. So what I want you to do is… come at me using taijutsu, but not with your strongest techniques. Show me something more, something simple. If you want, you can use some time to come up with a plan. But also remember that…”

“Your plan is only as good as its weakest link.” Boruto finished his sentence, which actually brought a small smile to Konohamaru’s face.

“Well, it’s nice to see you paying attention once in a while.”

…

Sarada was glad she actually got a chance to talk to Boruto alone.

“There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Sure, Sarada, what is it?” Boruto said, a serious expression on his face when he saw how worried the Uchiha looked. 

“It’s about Mit…”

“What about me?” came a voice above them, and Mitsuki dropped in between them, making them both jump.

“Dude, what is wrong?” Boruto asked with a hint of worry, looking between their faces.

“Nothing.” his friend said serenely, which made the blond frown slightly. “Do I need to remind you that we have to make our plan? Any more waiting and Konohamaru sensei is going to come after us.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot he is a psycho like that.” Boruto mumbled. 

“He is not. He’s treating this as if we’re in a real battle situation, for which we should be grateful.”

“Okay, okay, enough with the lecture already. So what is our plan?”

…

After about four more tries, at the end of which Konohamaru platoon did come with a plan that actually beat Konohamaru, their sensei told them that it will do for the day, with an actual smile on his face this time.

“Do you have a plan for the evening?” Boruto asked, turning to Mitsuki.

“Onii-chan!”

All of them turned to see Hinata and Himawari a little far away, Hinata with a warm smile on her face and Boruto’s younger sister waving at them.

Mitsuki smiled. “I don’t. But seems like you do.”

Boruto smiled himself as he got up. “Well, talk to you guys tomorrow, then.”

As she watched him leaving, Sarada sighed. “We should’ve told him. You know he’s gonna get mad when he finds out about it.”

“Not until we’re done with the preparations. I want to do this right, Sarada, which involves keeping this a secret from him.”

“I still don’t like it. We’re a team, and you’re his best friend.”

“Yeah, and that’s exactly why. We have four days. Let’s not ruin it.”

“Mitsuki, I want to talk to you for a minute.”

The blue-haired boy looked at his sensei. “Sure, Konohamaru sensei.”

They got away a little from Sarada, and the younger understood the reason quickly as his sensei put a hand to his shoulder.

“Look, kiddo… If there’s anyone mistreating you, in any way… I want you to tell me about it, okay?”

Mitsuki wondered for a moment if Konohamaru learned about the harassments through the day, and he realized that if he told the jounin then and there, he actually would lift some of the weight off from his heart.

But… it had already been a very bad day for him, and he didn’t want to make it worse just because of a couple of verbal assaults.

“I will… Thank you, sensei.”

…

“What the heck… is this…?” Sarada mumbled numbly, as she and Mitsuki stared, dumbfound, at his apartment door.

It was apparent that someone had been very busy while they were training. Graffitis, rude words and even some drawings were covering all of Mitsuki’s door in bright colors. Two of the drawings stood out the most; one that of a beheaded snake (thankfully, noone thought of adding blood to that), the other being that of a snake biting its own tail, surrounded by a vivid wall of flames. Under that second drawing was the words, “Konoha’s fire will devour snakes”. There were words and phrases written all over as well: snake, outsider, traitor, murderer…

Sarada’s voice brought Mitsuki back to earth. “How… how could anyone be so… cruel…?”

He had no idea at all.

The boy took in a shaky breath, trying to maintain his control. “Let’s take the stuff and go.” he said, and the blankness of his voice took him by surprise.

He took one step towards the door before Sarada yelped and grabbed his arm, almost painfully.

“You are not going in there!” she whispered, her voice high-pitched.

“Sarada…”

“Let’s… let’s come back later and take the stuff then, okay? It’s… they’re not worth the risk…”

“I don’t think they will booby trap the door, y'know,” Mitsuki said, laughing softly but without any kind of humor. “Noone can go that far, knowing that these will be easily tracked.”

“I don’t care!” the girl’s voice was becoming hysterical. “You know what… You… you really should come stay over my place… We can buy some new stuff.. Just… let’s not come back here again…”

“Sarada…” Mitsuki said, taking his arm and putting his hands on her shoulder. “It’s gonna be alright…”

“Stop saying that!” Sarada snapped at last, breaking free of his grasp. “How can these be alright? You are openly being threatened and we have to report it - but oh, no, you don’t, because of something stupid!”

“It’s not something stupid,” the boy mused softly. “It’s the one thing that still makes my day… So please… Let’s do it properly.”

The Uchiha rubbed her eyes, still seething. “You… I don’t even know how to express what I feel.” she said through gritted teeth.

…

The setting sun created a beautiful light show over the rushing tides of the Konoha waterfall. Having finished with the decorations, Sarada finally felt waves of calmness engulfing her as she stood to the very edge, enjoying the scene.

“Why the waterfall?” she asked when she heard Mitsuki coming closer.

“We made a promise here… some time ago.” the blue-haired boy mused.

Together, they watched as the sun set. A warm breeze blew past them, ruffling their hair.

“Sarada?”

“Hmm?” the girl turned to her friend, and noticed a determined look on his face.

Mitsuki took in a deep breath. “Tomorrow… I want to visit the orphanage.”


	6. Mitsuki's Decision

CHAPTER 5 - MITSUKI’S DECISION

He was making a lot of noise in the early morning, but he didn’t care.

Ever since Sarada called him the other night and told him that Mitsuki, his best friend… was being mistreated, he couldn’t sit still. It took him a great deal of self-control to wait until the morning, when they decided to meet. So, by any right, if he was waking up some people and they were complaining about it, he wasn’t about to give them a rat’s ass.

He came to a dead stop and his eyes widened as he looked at his friend’s closed door.

Sarada had… failed to mention these.

He took them all in one by one, getting more terrified and outraged the more he looked at them. These were not just simple harassments - these were threats, and pretty horrible threats at that.

“What the hell…?” he mumbled, unable to believe.

Then he heard a click and he was suddenly face to face with his best friend.

Mitsuki took in his best friend’s expression, anger and terror mingled together and sighed, knowing it would eventually come to this point. “Boruto…”

“When were you going to tell me?!” the blond practically spat out of gritted teeth.

“Tell you what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Boruto yelled, banging his fist on the door, and Mitsuki flinched a little. “I’m talking about these graffitis, Mitsuki!” 

“Oh…” the younger boy mused, giving the said graffitis a fleeting look.

“Oh? Oh?! That’s all you have to say?!”

“Boruto!” Sarada had just barely made it. The two were supposed to meet in front of the building, but when she got there, Boruto was nowhere to be seen -so she had just followed the ruckus he was making. “What’s going on here? I could hear your voice from almost a mile away!”

“Well, I wouldn’t be yelling if Mitsuki had told me that he is being harassed!”

Sarada had nothing to say to that. Then something clicked on the boy’s mind, and he turned to her, eyes wiened.

“Wait - you KNEW about this! You knew, and you didn’t tell me either!!”

“W-well, I…”

“Please don’t blame Sarada, I told her not to tell you.”

“Why?!”

Mitsuki sighed. “Because I didn’t want to worry you, Boruto. I wouldn’t have told Sarada, but she saw it… I don’t want either of you to worry about this…”

“How can I not worry when my best friend is being harassed?!” Boruto yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. “Why are they even doing it, huh?! But you know what?!”

The blond took his cell phone out.

“Boruto, that’s not nec-”

“Shut the hell up.”

At that time, a neighboring door opened and a groggy-looking man popped his head out. “Hey, brats, keep it down, will you?”

“And you just shut up, too, okay?!”

Sarada turned an apologetic look to the man, who just silently slid back into his apartment. Boruto took a few photos of the door.

“There. My dad is going to hear about this.”

“Boruto…” the Uchiha began.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this! What if you got seriously hurt?! I thought we were friends!!”

At these words, the blue haired boy finally snapped. “We are! And that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you!”

“Because you didn’t want to worry me?!” Boruto scoffed, and actually took a step to his friend. “Bullshit!”

At that, the girl finally stepped in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulders and actually pushing him back a little. “Boruto, please!” she said urgently. “Calm down before you say or do something you will regret!”

And just like that, Boruto’s furiosity vanished on the spot, leaving behind only remnants of resentment.

The last time he had almost… lost his father. He didn’t want anything like that to happen - ever again.

He gulped and stepped away from Sarada, his eyes on his best friend. “…fine. But don’t think that this matter is over. My dad will know of this.”

Sarada sighed, a little relieved that the storm has passed. “Okay, um… let’s get going, shall we?”

…

She had really, really hoped the day would proceed without any unpleasant incidents - but of course, in the current situation, it was too much to ask.

They haven’t even reached the outskirts of the village yet. Boruto was still seething and Mitsuki was quiet, but Sarada was on the lookout, just in any case.

And then she heard a rustle, quick footsteps and her instincts took over.

“Boruto!” she called to her friend as she quickly stepped in front of Mitsuki, activating her Sharingan, as he turned at her voice.

The blond had acted very quickly indeed, their months of team-work had really paid off. Before the person Sarada felt a minute ago could do anything, he was by his side, grabbing his wrist.

The girl felt sad when she saw the boy couldn’t be older than eight years old.

“Just what do you think you are doing?!” Boruto asked through gritted teeth. “Throwing…” he looked at the squished red blob on the ground and raised an eyebrow. “Tomatoes? Seriously?”

“We don’t want him here.” the child said stubbornly, nodding towards Mitsuki. “He’s making everyone restless. My mom and dad had not stopped arguing since yesterday!”

The blond’s look got darker. “Well, it’s not my friend’s fault if your parents are dumb.”

“Guys, drop it, he’s just a kid…” Mitsuki began, but Boruto wasn’t about to listen.

“You land anything on him, and you.are.dead.meat.” he hissed dangerously, inching his face closer to the boy.

“What the hell is going on here?”

An elder boy has stepped out from the corner of a building, a menacing look on his face.

“Who do you think you are, bullying my brother like that, you little piece of…”

As Boruto turned towards him slowly, seething with anger, the boy came to a halt.

“Wrong,” the boy said, and the elder boy actually took a step back. “The question is, who do YOU think you are, messing with my best friend?!”

It took the boy a moment, but he finally snapped out of it and hurried forward, taking his younger brother by his shoulders. “Fumio, what did I tell you? Do not mess with that snake while the hokage’s son is with him! Now we’re gonna get in trouble!”

“Stay away from him if you know what is best for you!” Boruto yelled at them as the brothers scamper away. After they were out of sight, he raised his head to look at his friends.

Sarada deactivated her Sharingan with a sigh. Mitsuki wasn’t looking at him, his eyes on the ground.

“This is not your fault!” he said fervently, bothered by how Mitsuki wasn’t even meeting his eyes. “They need to know that in Konoha you can’t bully someone because of his origins! Noone will allow it!”

The blue haired boy sighed. “Boruto, just please… let’s move on.”

“No! Not until you stop letting these stupid people get to you!”

“I can’t give you a promise I can’t keep.” Mitsuki said curtly before turning on his heels and started walking again. Boruto and Sarada looked at each other for a brief second before they started following him.

…

The walk to the orphanage had been no different.

Noone bothered them this time, at least not verbally, but every now and then they found at least a pair of unfriendly eyes peeking at them from around a corner. It came to the point where Boruto had it and turned to snap at one of those; “What are you looking at?!” But they never stayed long when they saw the Hokage’s son was with them.

They were now just a few blocks away from the main building. Not knowing what they should be expecting, because they never got to come to the orphanage after the attack, Sarada felt her pulse quickening as they approached.

All three of them came to a halt when the campus came into view.

The news never covered much, and although they knew it was bad, they had no idea of the scope.

The whole front of the building was in ruins, seemingly blown apart by an enormous force. Pieces of rubble laid everywhere, and there were stains on them… dark stains… Stains that reminded all of them terribly of…

Dried blood…

As if he was in a trance, Mitsuki took a step forward, stopped for a moment, and then kept walking. Boruto, snapping out of his shock, noticed him.

“Mitsuki - wait, yu can’t just go inside like that!”

The boy was aware of someone was calling for him, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying.

This much pain…

Why…?

Someone grabbing his arm finally made him come to a stop, and he turned to see Sarada, with a worried expression on her face.

“Don’t rush inside!” she said.

Mitsuki opened his mouth to say something, but someone cut him off before he got a word out.

“Oh hey, it’s you guys!”

All of them looked up to see Inojin, Shikadai and Chouchou coming out of the building, their arms full of rubble and other things.

“Yo, what’s up?” Chouchou said non-chalantly, approaching them. “I thought you guys weren’t supposed to be here?”

“Not… supposed to be here?” Mitsuki mumbled, not quite understanding.

“What she meant to say was, we didn’t know you were also assigned here,” Inojin immediately interjected before his friend said anything else.

“We didn’t come here on an assignment,” Boruto sighed, coming up from behind his friends. “We just wanted to, uh…”

“See how the renovations were coming up,” Sarada finished helpfully.

“Well, they are coming up pretty troublesome,” Shikadai said with a bored expression. “At least the director is a pretty nice guy - even after all this…”

Mitsuki’s eyes widened. “Wait… Is Kabuto here?”

“Of course,” Shikadai raised an eyebrow. “Where else?”

The blue haired boy then turned to his friends. “I’m going to talk to him.”

“Cool, I’m coming with you.”

“Boruto,” Mitsuki sighed. “I’m gonna talk to him alone.”

“I can wait outside.”

Mitsuki looked at Shikadai with a bored expression. “Please… do stop him if he comes after me.”

…

He found Kabuto in one of the back rooms, one of the few rooms that didn’t sustain a lot of damage. The man looked up when Mitsuki entered.

“Oh, Mitsuki…” he said. “I didn’t expect to see you.”

“I just wanted to see all of this myself.”

Kabuto sighed, and they both stayed silent for a while.

“Why…?”

“Hm?” Kabuto turned to the boy, questions in his eyes. Mitsuki was gazing out of the doorway with a distant look in his eyes, and it wasn’t too hard for the older man to understand where the boy’s mind was.

“…You are one of the few people who knows my father like the back of his hand… Why? Why would my father do this? For what motive?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for that question. The truth is that Orochimaru always has a reason behind his actions…”

“Exactly!” the boy exclaimed as he turned to the man, desperate to find some answers. “So why would he attack innocent children? Not just the Shins, but other children, too!”

The man put a hand on the boy’s arm, and his tone was gentle as he spoke. “Mitsuki, I understand that it’s hard for you to handle it and I wouldn’t believe it, either… But I saw your father’s curse mark on that man with my own eyes.”

The boy didn’t know what to say to that, and he lowered his eyes to the ground. Kabuto looked at him carefully.

“Anyone bothering you?” he asked, quickly assessing the situation.

Mitsuki gave a small smile as he thought about his friends. “Nothing I can’t handle. And I have some very good friends.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Mitsuki kept looking around, his gaze taking a serious quality once again as he took in the damage, people rushing around…

“Kabuto-san…” he said after a minute. “How did you become a med-nin?”

“Where did that come from?” the older man asked, totally confused.

“Just wondering… And how did you become a director at this orphanage?”

Kabuto thought about it for a second. “They are actually connected.”

“Connected? How?”

“You know… I was orphaned in the third ninja world war. Konoha took me in and in this orphanage, I was raised by a woman who taught me about medical ninjutsu. I guess you can say that I wanted to do what she did to me… To raise children in a family environment, to heal their wounds in one way or another…” He sighed and looked away. “It’s too sad it didn’t work out that way… I guess your past never really leaves you.”

They didn’t say anything more as Mitsuki thought bitterly how true those words were…

…

His mind was a jumbled mess when he was making his way back to his friends.

Working to save, heal people… That seemed like a noble cause.

Frankly, before he came here, even when he started his way as a ninja, he didn’t have a clue of what will become of him in the future. He remembered it like it was yesterday, the day they met their sensei and Konohamaru asked what his future dream was. He had simply smiled and said that he wanted to become as great a ninja as his father, maybe even surpassing him one day.

He wanted, no, needed so badly to make Orochimaru proud of him.

He didn’t know if this path he was about to choose would make him proud or not… 

But working to heal the wounds his father might or might not have caused, well…

That seemed like a noble cause, too.

Now if his sensei asked him just about this moment, he would say that he wanted to become a med-nin.

He didn’t know yet who he could be trained under to pursue this goal. Hopefully… not even all of the adults were against him?

Naturally, the first person to come to mind was Kabuto, an uncle to him in more than one way. But he already had so much on his plate to take in a pupil.

Of course the most famous med-nin in Konoha was Sarada’s mother, or the fifth hokage, but Mitsuki wasn’t exactly sure how he could approach them.

Well… there was always Karin as his back-up plan, but…

His heart tugged just thinking about it.

That would mean he would also have to leave his friends behind, and he… really didn’t want that.

Boruto and Sarada… The first real family he had in Konoha… 

He wasn’t really paying attention, lost too much in his own thoughts.

“What the hell do you think you are doing here?”

Many things happened all at once that Mitsuki couldn’t really find the time to react.

When he turned back, he saw someone running towards him with a hateful expression, but before he could come too close, someone stopped him by throwing himself on that person.

Metal Lee raised his head to look at him, and his eyes widened. “Mitsuki, watch out!”

The blue haired boy turned just in time to dodge a punch aimed right at his face.

“Yuumi, Fuuto, help us!” Metal called.

But noone helped him and Mitsuki actually had to grab the assailant’s fist the next time. “I don’t want to fight you.” he declared in a calm tone.

“Too bad, because I’m about to turn you to a pulp! How dare you even show your face here?!”

Then the boy came to a sudden stop and the younger let go of his hand.

“Two on one? You really are looking for trouble, aren’t you?”

Just by the manner of his speech, Mitsuki was quick to understand how the attacker was stopped.

“I’ll show you who’s gonna turn into a pulp!”

“Boruto, no!” the boy yelled when he saw his best friend charging, but Shikadai acted before him.

“Sheesh, hold your horses, won’t you?”

“Shikadai…” Boruto, who had also been stopped dead, growled through his teeth, clearly pissed off. “You better let me go. I really don’t want to take this out on you.”

“Not before you calm down, no.”

“How can you even expect me to calm down?!” the blond yelled. “These two were just about to attack my best friend!”

“Boruto, just calm down…” Mitsuki sighed, already getting tired of this.

“How can you even call that thing your friend?” one of the other boys asked, and everyone tensed.

“You better watch out what you’re saying…” said Sarada, at the end of her patience.

“It’s way better than hanging out with the likes of you!” Boruto yelled at them, trying hard to get out of the shadow mimic technique.

“Well, seeing that we outnumber you by at least a third, I would advice you to back down - unless you want us to get really mad.” Inojin put in, all with a sweet but dangerous smile.

The two thought about it for a second.

“We will be back.” they said, throwing dirty looks at the blue haired boy.

“To get your asses handed to you? Anytime!” Boruto countered.

As the two ran away, Metal looked at his teammates. “Why didn’t you guys help us out back then?”

The girl didn’t say anything, but after a second of hesitation, Fuuto spoke. “Why… did you help?” he asked, and his tone was confused; not accusing, not degrading; just curious.

“Seriously?” Metal asked unbelievably. “You really think I would just stand aside and let a friend - anyone - get bullied right in front of me?! We were taught better than that!”

“Don’t bother, Metal,” Boruto said, a little ruder than he normally would. “Thank you for your help, anyway.”

…

The way back had been awfully quiet.

They had stopped by a fast-food restaurant to have lunch on their way back, but the glares never ceased, even with Boruto glaring right back at those.

They were almost to Mitsuki’s house when it happened again.

“You still here in this village, you snake?”

Boruto tensed and turned back, his hands balling into fists. 

“You have any problems with your eyesight?” he growled at the group that gathered behind them, especially to their supposed leader, who had just spoken. “I can’t see any snakes here but you, waiting to strike, hidden behind corners!”

“You know, you are overly confident, being the hokage’s son and all… But we’re gonna make our voices heard, too. He can’t be hidden, protected under your wings for too long.”

“Try me…” Boruto hissed, shaking with anger.

“Boruto, don’t…” Sarada began.

“And why do you protect him, anyway? Do you really think he would do the same for you if this situation was reversed?” one of the other kids shouted.

“Don’t… play… with fire…!”

“Oh yeah? Well let me tell you one thing, not all of us agree with daddy dearest!”

Mitsuki was having a hard time keeping the hurt look from his face - did they really… really think that low of him? He snapped back to the moment when he saw Boruto hurrying forward, and grabbed his arm in a desperate attempt. “Boruto, just let it go…”

“Well, too bad for you that my ‘daddy dearest’ is the hokage, and you have to follow his orders!”

“Well, you see… things can change, and then we will have our say!”

“Boruto!” Mitsuki yelled, but it was too late.

Already too agitated, Boruto freed his arm from his best friend with an angry yell, and actually charged the group before Sarada or Mitsuki could react properly.

He had aimed for the leader, and as the two actually tumbled to the ground with Boruto’s momentum, the other kids stood back a little, clearly undecisive about whether or not getting in a fight with the Hokage’s son is a good idea. But they did hold back Mitsuki and Sarada when they rushed to help their friend.

The fight didn’t last for too long, really, but for the two, it seemed to drag on as they watch, helpless. Boruto and the older boy traded punches and kicks, none of them exactly stronger than the other.

It was after one particularly hard punch which left a cut over Boruto’s eyebrow that Sarada finally snapped.

“You little…” she growled through gritted teeth, and felt her chakra growing in her hand as she pushed away those who were holding her back. “Shannaro!”

When she hit the ground with her fist, all the other children were thrown back by the force, including the one the blond had been fighting. Mitsuki caught his friend before he got thrown away too.

“Now run away before I get really angry!” Sarada yelled at the group, who didn’t stay long after that.

Boruto got up, wiping some blood that was making its way to his eye. “Come on, we’re going to my dad’s office NOW.”

“We should check on that wound first…” Sarada countered.

“It’s just a little blood, I’m fine. Come on…”

Mitsuki had remained silent for a while, but he shook his head when he heard this. “No, I… I need to be alone.”

“I’m not gonna leave you alone anywhere, 'ttebasa, so you better move it!” the blond snapped at his friend.

But that was too much.

How could he ever forgive himself when he had let his best friend get hurt over him? What kind of a friend was he? And how was he supposed to help people even when he was rendered helpless to protect his own friend…?

(boruto ost - headwind)

Seeing that there was a sad and… hollow look taking over his friend’s expression, Boruto’s frown softened, actually turning into a look of worry.

“You’re not safe around me anymore…” Mitsuki mumbled, retreating back into the apartments. “I’ll… I’ll just stay at home, I promise…”

“Mitsuki stop this, it’s just a little blood, I’m not dying here…” the blond tried to reason, but the younger didn’t look back as he rushed inside.

“Shit…” Boruto mumbled and him and Sarada followed their friend inside.

Mitsuki was quicker - he opened his door and slid inside before his friends made it.

Boruto reached the door first and knocked it normally.

“Mitsuki! Come on, this is nothing, and it certainly isn’t your fault! We have to report this to my dad!”

When there was no reply, Boruto banged his fist on the door.

“Dammit, stop doing this! You can’t just stay down because idiotic people make idiotic remarks about you! Come out so we can talk about it!”

“Boruto…” Sarada put her hand on his arm. “Let’s just leave him alone for the day.”

“What? Are you out of your mind?”

“I… I think he needs it. We have training tomorrow, we can talk to him then.”

It was pretty obvious that the boy didn’t like this, but he finally sighed and nodded.

…

Mitsuki had been behind the door all the time, listening to his friends. When he heard them walking away, he slowly slid against the door, bringing his knees closer to him.

His presence… was no longer wanted, nor needed in Konoha, that much was pretty clear. But his friend getting injured for that…

He felt something wet sliding down his face and raised his hand to his cheek.

He stared at the tear on his fingertip for a moment, and then, with the back of his hand, wiped at his eyes.

This was not the time to show weakness. He had other things to do.

…

A knock brought Naruto back from his thoughts. “Come in.”

A ninja peeked in. “Lord seventh, your son is…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the said son pushed his way through the man, tailed by Sarada. “Dad, we need to talk.”

“Boruto, how many times do I have to tell you, don’t call me da…” Naruto did a double take when he got a closer look at his son’s face. “What the hell happened to you?!”

The blond sighed, trying not to roll his eyes. “For the last time, I’m not bleeding to death.”

“You should go check with the clinic immediately…” Naruto began.

“Stuff it, dad, this is not about me!” Boruto snapped. “Do you even know what’s been going on??”

“About what…?”

“Mitsuki! My best friend is being threatened and harassed all day! Look at this!”

When his son shoved his phone under his nose, the hokage’s eyes widened for a second, then he snatched the phone from Boruto and took a look at the other pictures as well, his expression growing darker with each one.

“When did this start?” he asked finally, looking up at the two.

“Yesterday,” Sarada replied. “It just started as verbal assaults first, but then those graffitis and two people attacking him today…”

“Attacking?” Naruto felt his anger boiling. He was actually planning to send someone, maybe Konohamaru as he was their sensei, to check on the boy, but… this was taking it too far.

“He didn’t even do anything! He kept telling all those morons he didn’t want to fight! Why are they doing this?!”

Naruto sighed. “I should’ve known this.”

“Dad?” Boruto asked, his tone shocked. This wasn’t the reaction he expected.

“Some of the townspeople… They are not very happy with my decision of letting Mitsuki stay in Konoha.”

“Wha… what…?” Boruto asked blankly, not even knowing what the hokage’s words meant. “Where… where else is he supposed to live?”

“They wanted me to exile him.” Naruto said openly, looking at the two right in the eyes.

Boruto and Sarada were so appalled that they couldn’t say anything for a while. “Why…?” Sarada mumbled at last, her voice weak.

“Because he is the son of a villain this village is not about to forget anytime soon.” The hokage explained, playing all cards on the table. Being his teammates and close friends, they needed to know.

“That is no reason!” Boruto shot back, snapping out of his shock. “No two person is ever the same! Dad, you can’t…”

“Of course not.” Naruto cut in seriously, and his tone made his son go quiet. “He belongs in Konoha, a member of our family. I’m not going to give up on him.”

The two just stared up at him in awe. The man’s expression softened a little.

“I am going to deal with this, make sure anyone who is involved get punished. Now, please go check with the clinic and leave the rest to me.”

Boruto gulped and nodded. “Thank you dad.”

As they walked out, Naruto took out his cell phone.

…

Konohamaru was just about to walk out of the door, his mind troubled.

The hokage had just called, to inform him that there were some mishappenings concerning Mitsuki that he needed his help with. The jounin was worried, knowing exactly what kind of mishappenings there could be.

Just as he took a step out of the door, he heard something break from inside the house and turned back. 'What now…?’ he wondered.

He crossed to the living room, turned on the lights and spotted the fallen object immediately. He rushed over to take the photo frame, turning it over.

“Ah come on…” he pouted. “The glass just had to break.”

Then he noticed which photo it was, and frowned a little.

It was a picture of his students, all three of them, taken just two months ago on his birthday. It was actually one of his favorites, as all the three looked very happy and carefree…

But now the picture had a crack right on Mitsuki, and suddenly that made it look… ominous, to say the least.

How could a picture break right in the middle?

…

“Kuchiyose no jutsu.”

A snake approximately the size of him materialized in front of Mitsuki in his living room and hissed at him once in greeting.

“Mitsuki-sama,” it said in a feminine voice. “What can I do for you?”

“Isis, I want you to go to my father,” Mitsuki replied clearly. “Tell him to meet me outside of Konoha’s eastern border, to the end of the river.”

He couldn’t have been more vague if he tried, something that Isis noticed herself.

“If you need his help on a mission, you have to give him a more specific address.”

“No, I…” Mitsuki let out his breath and closed his eyes. “I’m leaving.”

“Not on a mission, obviously. Why?”

“I don’t belong here anymore.”

There was a moment of silence. 

“Mitsuki-sama…” Isis began, her thin pupils regarding him carefully. “You do know you shouldn’t satisfy anyone’s needs by leaving…”

“I’m not leaving to make anyone happy,” the boy countered. “There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed…” His head bowed as he whispered. “I am leaving to protect my friends… I should have never get them involved.”

The snake coiled around silently, deciding not to push forward. “When are you leaving?”

Mitsuki checked his clock, and did a double take. Time really flew by. It was already nine pm. “In about two hours.”

“Got it.”

Opening his window, the boy watched as the snake slid out.

And then a knock almost made him jump out of his skin. Calming down, he made his way to the door. Who could be visiting at this hour? He hoped against hope it wasn’t his friends, because he couldn’t explain why everything was packed, leaving the house empty. 

He sighed when he saw it was his sensei.

“Konohamaru-sensei…” he said simply in greeting, not fully opening the door.

Konohamaru didn’t really know why, but just seeing his student well made him feel relieved. When he saw the graffitis, he had thought about giving the boy a speech about why he didn’t tell him anything, but now he thought better of it.

“Hey, kiddo. Just wanted to check up on you… How are you holding up?”

This was probably going to be the last time he was seeing him…

Mitsuki tried his best to keep the emotions away from his face, to not let the jounin suspect anything. It was not easy, but he managed to pull up a smile.

“I’m fine, really. I was just about to go to bed…”

Konohamaru raised an eyebrow. “At this hour?” Granted, he didn’t keep a track of when their students go to sleep, but this seemed unusual for Mitsuki.

“Yup, I’m a bit tired…”

The sensei’s eyes turned grim as he looked at the boy. “Mitsuki… why didn’t you tell? We could have stopped these…”

Mitsuki bit his lower lip slightly… He had already explained why to his friends, he hoped his sensei would be more…. understanding in the matter. “I didn’t want to worry you, sensei.” He smiled a bitter smile. “You already have enough on your plate to handle and I’m sure it’s just a phase…”

Konohamaru’s expression softened as he sighed. This student of his… He had understood long ago that he liked to protect the people close to him, but this…

The older man forced the apartment’s door slightly more open before kneeling down at his student’s size. Mitsuki’s heart was racing at this point… He hoped that Konohamaru hadn’t seen the things packed.

But the sensei’s eyes were only on his student. 

“Mitsuki…there are times when we have to allow ourselves to be protected as well.”

The blue haired boy felt his eyes burning slightly… He wished there was another way, that he wouldn’t have to leave them behind, but he just knew things wouldn’t go any better from this point on.

So even with a heavy heart, he had to lie. 

“If these get any worse, I’ll tell you, I promise.”

“No such chance,” the jounin said, smiling encouragingly. “Lord seventh is already on the case. We will get those who did these and they will be punished. They will regret the day they draw these things when they will be forced to clean all of it.”

Another bitter smile. “Thank you, sensei.”

Konohamaru got to his feet. “Well, then. I better get going so you can rest. See you tomorrow in the training.”

He was just about to leave when the boy’s voice stopped him. “Sensei?”

The young man turned to him, question marks in his eyes. “Yeah?”

“You should really make peace with Lady Hanabi.”

They stood there, looking at each other for a second. The sensei was clearly taken aback, surprised by how the kid still thought about such a thing with everything going on.

“Yeah, well… We will see about that.” He said finally, not knowing what would be a better answer.

…

Even with his mind set, Mitsuki couldn’t help but feel sad and empty, walking away from the place he called home for a year. Each step he took felt like a ton, and his mind was fogged by all the good memories.

“Hey, guess who’s back, loser.”

'Not again,’ the boy thought, already too tired as he raised his head.

This time, there was a bigger group of kids from various ages gathered in front of him. He realized that it was a hit-list of all those who already made their opinions about him heard - the boys from the orphanage, the kid Boruto fought, even those from yesterday…

“Let me pass.” he said calmly, although there was a little tremor to it. “I have no intention to fight…”

“Why not? Do you only attack those who can’t even defend themselves, you coward?”

The blue haired boy sighed. “Let me pass.” he repeated. They would probably gladly do so if they knew what he was about to do.

“No, you know what, come on. I dare you to attack us.” The boy who tried to punch him in the orphanage came in front of him pretty quickly and shoved him. Mitsuki staggered back one step, but stood his ground.

And he didn’t do anything, not even raise his fists in a defense position. He was just so fed up.

“What’s the matter? Go on, defend yourself.”

Another shove.

“Afraid to go up against a large group? Afraid we would beat you?”

Some of the other kids, mostly younger than him, the boy noticed, started cheering for the older boys. He closed his eyes, still doing nothing. 

“We are not gonna let snakes spreading their venom in Konoha!”

“Enough.”

With the calm voice intervening, Mitsuki opened his eyes to see all of the children coming to a stop, turning around to look at… 

Kakashi Hatake, the sixth hokage.

“What do you think you are doing?” the older man asked, eyebrows furrowed. “At least ten on one?”

All of the children around the boy took a step back, and one of them actually grumbled, “We were just talking.”

“Is that so? Well, be sure that your little ’talk’ will be notified to lord seventh.”

As the kids ran away, Kakashi turned to look at Mitsuki, a little bothered by the fact that… 

The kid really didn’t do anything… Anything at all in response, just stood there.

“You alright?” he asked, worry coating his tone.

He just sighed and nodded. “Yup, I’m fine.”

“Where are you headed to at this hour? It’s…” Kakashi checked his watch. It was almost ten pm. “Getting late.”

The boy didn’t look at him. “I was actually headed to lord seventh’s office…” Something that never occurred to him before then clicked on his mind. “If he is there…?”

“He is,” the former hokage said, carefully gazing at the boy. “Let me escort you there then.”

…

Naruto had gained the habit of looking at his phone every few minutes in the last couple of hours. 

He had given Konohamaru two days to come back with his report, he wanted him to gather every possible lead he could trace back… But he still sat on edge, just waiting for a call…

A soft knock on the door made him snap out of it. “Come in,” he said, having a brief moment of dejavu of the late afternoon.

He was really surprised when Mitsuki made his way into the room.

“Good evening, lord seventh.” the boy said, politely formal.

“Good evening, Mitsuki,” he said, and then gave the boy a warm smile. “What can I do for you?” He didn’t know what brought him here at this hour, but then he thought that he might want to report the harassments on his own account, which made him feel glad.

The boy came to a stop a little while away from his desk, and didn’t know what to say for a moment. Naruto just waited for him to take the first step.

“I am sorry.”

“Huh?” the hokage asked, totally confused. “What for?”

“For what happened to Boruto… I couldn’t stop them…”

“Mitsuki…” The older man began, but didn’t know how to continue for a while. How could the boy even blame himself for this? “It’s not your fault. The ones who did it will pay. They will pay for what they’ve been doing to you, too.”

Mitsuki smiled a little, but the hokage noticed it was a sad one. “I… heard about it. But lord seventh… That’s not why I came here.”

“Then what is it?”

Mitsuki took in a deep breath to steady his thoughts. “I’m planning to leave Konoha tomorrow morning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ON THE NEXT CHAPTER…
> 
> “Goodbye, Konoha…” 
> 
> “Where are you going?!” 
> 
> “You were called an outsider, a freak… Show them what they are without you!”
> 
> “You are part of this village, and you deserve to be protected, too.”
> 
> “You were not raised to be a pushover… Show Konoha exactly how much they need you!"


	7. Storm Clouds

CHAPTER 6 - STORM CLOUDS

Naruto’s eyes widened in shock at the boy’s words. “What…? Wait, Mitsuki, you don’t have to leave…”

“I… do. I don’t want to cause any more troubles…”

“Troubles?” the older cut in, unbelievable. “You haven’t caused any troubles!” The Hokage stood up and walked towards the boy, kneeling in front of him and putting his hands on his shoulders. “You are not at fault, I am. I should have found a way to avoid what you’ve been going through…”

“Please, lord seventh… I know you’re doing so much already. And… this is not about how people treat me, really.” Mitsuki remained silent for a minute.

“Then please, tell me what’s troubling you.” Naruto immediately answered, because he had no intentions on giving up on this boy. “But please don’t leave, it won’t do any good to those who care about you.”

“That’s my point.” the boy mumbled, his gaze on the floor. “I let Boruto and Sarada get involved in this… Boruto even got hurt for me… I… I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me. Either physically, or…” he slowly raised his hand to tap two fingers against his chest. “here.”

“Mitsuki…” the Hokage sighed, how was he supposed to convince this boy to not leave? “You are part of this village, no matter what your connections are, and you deserve to be protected too.”

For some reason, the hokage’s words lifted that last bit of weight from his heart, that one thing that made him hesitate, and the boy actually gave a small smile. “You know,” he mused, meeting the blue eyes, “that’s what I always liked about your speeches. That the whole village is your family… It had been like that for me, too. I never thought less, and slowly, in the year I spent in Konoha, the people became my family too.”

The Hokage smiled slightly, had he convinced Mitsuki to not leave Konoha at all? That made him sigh of relief.

“And… that’s exactly why I have to go.” Mitsuki said and took a step back, freeing himself from the hokage’s grasp. “My presence… nowadays seem to cause nothing but restlessness to my family. A restlessness that is possibly on its way to affect you, too.”

His smile vanished as soon as it appeared, and Naruto felt himself frowning slightly. “I believe that’s my concern, rather than yours.”

At these words, the blue haired boy couldn’t help but give a soft smile. “But lord seventh… I consider you family, too.”

Naruto didn’t know what to say to that as the child’s words touched his heart. “Mitsuki…”

“Please… tell Boruto and Sarada I AM sorry. But that’s for the best… And maybe… as we pursue our own individual dreams… we can meet one day…”

Naruto watched in sadness as the boy took off his headband, he stood up but never took his eyes away from the blue haired boy. He had never wanted this to happen. Not again… “I want you to know that it is not my wish to let the matter go like this. But… no matter how this saddens me, I can’t force you to stay… all I can do then is to wish you good luck. I hope whatever your dreams are, you will achieve them.” 

He couldn’t believe that he was actually saying these words.

“Thank you, lord seventh… for everything you did.” Mitsuki said and turned his back, starting to walk towards the door.

“Mitsuki…” Naruto called after the boy one last time, as he looked at the headband that was now in his own hand, bringing back bitter memories… He had to try one last time. “Are you sure that leaving is the only option…? Boruto…might go after you…”

The boy actually came to a stop after this, as Naruto’s words hit too close home. “This… is the only option… if I am to follow my one true dream.” He said slowly. “Please make sure Boruto sees that, too. That this is the only way.” He then turned his head a little and gave the hokage one last look. “Let me protect my family.”

Naruto looked into the boy’s eyes and saw how those golden orbs held such a determination, but there was no hatred… He had been honest when he said it wasn’t about the harassments… He let out a sigh and closed his eyes as he heard the door click closed.

“Oooi, Naruto, I think I’m not the only one getting bad vibes out of this, now, am I?”

For a moment Naruto found himself in front of Kurama. He looked at the fox beast before crossing his arms. “No… you are not…”

…

Mitsuki was trying his best to keep his emotions at bay as he made his way out of the building, then turned and looked back at it once more.

‘That’s the only way…’ a small, sad voice in his head repeated.

He didn’t know how to counter that.

He sighed and made his way to the tree under which he had left his belongings.

…

Naruto had his face in his palm, deep in thought.

He had failed… He had failed in his dream to make a better leader, to make a much better world in which only peace and love reigned…

What kind of a leader was he…?

He looked at the portraits of the previous Hokages one by one, his eyes lingering the longest on his father.

He had always strived to be the best out of the best… But now he wondered if any of the previous six had fallen as far away from their dreams as he had…

There was a knock on his door, and this time, before waiting for an answer, Kakashi walked in.

They looked at each other for a minute before the older man sighed. “I heard all of it.”

He wasn’t even slightly surprised by that. “Then you know how very badly I handled this… I can’t believe how I couldn’t think of acting before…”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. Sometimes, there is just no way of stopping these… People were just used to the peace so much… that they react violently when there is a threat.”

“But putting the blame on a child?” the blond asked sadly. “To the point of making him leave?”

“I know… well, at least we can do something about THAT.”

“I have sent Konohamaru to investigate those harassments…”

“I have something better. A first-eye-witness account on who had been troubling the child.”

Naruto practically jumped to his feet. “How? Tell me everything!”

“When he was on his way here… he was attacked. I was nearby…”

“Damn it…” the blond growled through gritted teeth. This was not going to go unpunished if that would be the last thing he did. “Who?”

“A pretty crowded group, actually. About fifteen kids, ranging between ten to sixteen years of age.”

“Do you know any of them?”

“Most of the older children, yes. Naruto, they were from almost all of the clans. The ring leader was from Sarutobi, of course… There were also from the Yamanaka, the Akimichi… There was even a little Hyuga kid.”

That was about the farthest he was going to listen. “We are going to call for a meeting right now. Maybe it’s not too late to change the child’s mind…” Although, with an uneasy pang, he realized once again that he didn’t really believe in Mitsuki’s words about leaving tomorrow. “I’ll talk to Boruto and Sarada about this first, though. They need to know.”

“In an hour?”

“Yeah, that will do.”

…

The phone kept ringing and ringing.

Who could be calling at this hour? Hinata had always believed that at the late hours of the night, people only call for bad news. She prayed that that wasn’t the case now…

“Hello?” she said, picking up the receiver.

“Hinata?” she heard her husband’s voice, but for some reason… That got her heart beating a little faster. It wasn’t very often that Naruto called fom work. “I need to ask you for a favor.”

…

Mitsuki’s pale golden eyes were following the guards at the border closely. Anytime now…

He didn’t want anyone to learn that he was indeed leaving that very night instead of the morning, hence why he was trying to sneak out at the time of the shift change. Thankfully he had good ears, so he knew exactly when the shift changes - and how the border doesn’t have much surveillance during that.

As he expected, at exactly 10.57 pm, one of the six guards there yawned, looked at his comrades and called the duty off.

He couldn’t take a lot of time. It was true that the procedures took a little time, but… He had to act quick.

When he made sure noone was glancing back, he ran to the gates and quickly sneaked out.

It wasn’t until he got a little away that he stopped, slightly out of breath.

He pulled a traveling cloak out of the backpack, silently pulled it over himself. For one last time, he looked at the entrance of the village, once a welcoming and loving place, and now…

He gulped, trying to remember the place only with the good memories, trying to block out the last few days… to not remember Konoha as the dark, cold, intimidating place he regarded it now…

He gulped once again and a sad look came over his eyes.

“Goodbye, Konoha…” he whispered, pulling his hoodie up.

…

Naruto couldn’t take his eyes away from the headband in his hand, lost in his own mind. There was a knock on the door, and he raised his head as a ninja walked in.

“Lord seventh, your wife and son has arrived…”

Boruto, followed by Hinata and Sarada then made his way into the room. Just seeing his son’s face made his heart ache, making him wonder how he was going to break the news…

“Dad, what’s going on? What’s the rush?” Boruto asked - it was not usual for his dad to call them to his office at such a late hour, lest both him and Sarada.

Naruto sighed and closed his eyes for a minute. “Just come in and close the door behind you.”

They did so, all of them mildly curious as they lined up before him.

“It’s about Mitsuki…” the hokage began.

“What about him?” Sarada asked immediately.

“Did… did those jerks do anything to him?!” his son asked, his eyes widening slightly. 

“No… At least he didn’t mention anything…”

“Didn’t… mention?” Boruto perked up. “So he came here after all?!”

Naruto sighed again, looking at his son sadly, not knowing how to say it.

“So this means you can officially punish those guys?” the boy asked eagerly. “It means…”

“Boruto…” his dad cut in finally. “He left.”

Hinata was quick to understand what her husband meant, and her eyes widened slightly before a sad expression settled in them. Sarada had also begun catching up, but still, she wished with all her heart that it wasn’t the case.

Boruto, on the other hand, was totally confused. “…well duh, he is clearly not here…”

“He left the village, Boruto…” The hokage stood up, walked to the front of his desk and gave the headband to his son. “He came here to say goodbye…”

Boruto just gaped at the protector in his hands, feeling just… numb… “What…” he gulped as he had trouble recognizing his own voice. “What kind of joke is this, 'ttebasa…?”

“He said he didn’t want anyone else to get hurt because of him…” said his dad sadly.

“M… my cut…? Seriously…?” The blond felt his voice rising then. “That idiot left because of a damn cut?!”

Noone could say anything to that.

Boruto gripped the headband tightly, so much so that his fingers hurt. Another minute passed in silence. Then he snapped back to the moment and stormed to the door.

“Where are you going?!” he heard Sarada call from behind him.

“To that idiot’s house! I can’t let it end like this!”

… 

He had to take a break.

There was a clean river flowing just out of Konoha, perfect for drinking water. He set his things down, took a canteen out of his backpack and kneeled…

“Hurry up, will ya? Or we’re not gonna make it to their curfew.”

“Who died and made you leader? Know your place.”

Mitsuki didn’t know why, but he didn’t question when his instincts told him to hide. He grabbed his belongings quickly and jumped back behind a rock, kneeling, as footsteps came closer.

“Yeah, don’t go act all bossy around us. Who called you for this mission? Who will get you paid in the end?”

“Takeru…” he heard a gruff voice cut in.

“And why did you call for us, vermin? As far as I remember, you lot have no guts to go up against the whole village - let alone the Hokage.”

Mitsuki tried not to gasp out loud, and actually had to press his hand over his mouth.

Whoever was talking… they were… going to attack Konoha?

“Ha!” a voice inside his head suddenly shouted, and the boy flinched a little. “Everyone gets what they deserve in the end!”

What…?

Was this… really… his own way of thinking…?

“You were called an outsider, a freak… Show them what they are without you!”

Mitsuki’s hands balled into fists.

Why… was he thinking such things at a moment like this…?

Konoha… had been a home for him for over a year. He was welcomed…

“Were you, now? What about those past three days, then? What - you are gonna forgive them so easily?”

The child closed his eyes for a second, that wasn’t exactly wrong… He indeed felt resentful against those who kept picking up on him for no apparent reason - just because of who his father was… Why would he do anything? What did he owe them…?

’You are part of this village, and you deserve to be protected, too.’

His eyes snapped back open as he heard the hokage’s strong and clear voice, as if he was standing there, right next to him.

These ninjas were after him, the one person who truly accepted him without any questions or hesitations, the person who truly believed in him…

“The hokage can perfectly save his own hide…” the voice spit out maliciously. “Don’t bother!”

But… was he the only person…?

He thought about Boruto and Sarada, his teammates and best friends… no, his true second family, really…

His other friends from the academy… They all acted together today against those who tried to attack him. The kids from the grade school… Shinrou… and so many other people…

’Mitsu-nii?’ he heard a cheerful voice, brought by the wind itself and his hands tightened even more as Himawari’s smiling face came into his point of view…

How many innocent people would those ninjas hurt before they even got to lord seventh? Who knew what they were capable of?

“That’s my point, you moron! You don’t know what they could do - do you even know how many there are?”

Judging by their talk, at least three…

“And if they’re gonna aim for the hokage, they wouldn’t be ordinary ninjas! What do you think you - a simple genin - can do?”

But the border was… pretty much at its weakest point right now…

If he could only buy the guards some time…

“Stop that already! Do you have a freaking death wish?”

He wouldn’t have to do much. Just a simple diversion… Surely, even if he didn’t manage to lead them to the border himself - spoiling their surprise attack - someone would hear him and come to his help? They were so close…

“I can see how this could go from bad to worse in at least a hundred ways. You still have time, turn your back and get away!”

He heard the footsteps slowing down.

“Now would be a good time to start,” one of the nins said.

“You were not raised to be a pushover… Show Konoha exactly how much they need you!” the voice whispered in his head.

A determined expression crossed the boy’s eyes…

…

A fluttering sound caught the attention of the young man as he raised his head to see a small bird fluttering down to him. His eyes slightly widened in surprise and he raised his hand, so the bird can land on it.

A note was attached to his leg. Gently, the guard took the note and let the bird fly away, unfolding it as a feather fell from the sky. He frowned slightly as he scanned the short note.

“What is it?” one of his comrades asked.

The man sighed. “It’s probably nothing.” he said, trying to snuck the paper into his pocket. An attack? Yeah, right. The night air was so still and peaceful, with nothing but nature sounds surrounding them. Who would find it wise to trust that boy, anyway?

“Let me see.” his comrade said, holding his hand out.

The guard huffed, handing the note over. When the other guard read it, his eyes widened and he looked at the former in disbelief. “This is nothing? It might very well be a call for help!”

“Aw come on, it’s most likely a trap!” the guard said, rolling his eyes. “Does it sound like there’s a fight going out there to you?”

“Idiot, how would you explain your lack of response if there really was a threat?” his comrade said through gritted teeth. “Never mind, I’ll deliver this to lord Hokage myself.”

…

This… had to be a joke. A bad tasted, malevolent prank those idiotic villagers had pulled off.

The house was empty. He and Sarada had looked from room to room even though the apartment was quite small - Boruto had even gone so far as to check the wardrobe and other tiny spaces his friend couldn’t possibly fit in, because he couldn’t believe, he couldn’t grasp.

Mitsuki… was really, truly gone…

“That idiot…” he whispered in a hollow tone, looking around at the dark house.

“Boruto!” he heard the Uchiha call from the bedroom and hurried over.

Sarada was holding a letter in her hands, shaking a little. The blond was quick to understand that she had read it over. When he came nearer, the girl handed the piece of paper without another word.

“Dear Boruto and Sarada,

Before I say anything else…

Please forgive me for leaving you like this, without a word. But… I know you would try to stop me if I told you anything.

I’m leaving the village to pursue my own goal in life.

Don’t get mad at anyone for what I chose. I think this suits me more in a way, to be a traveling medic ninja who helps those in need wherever and whenever the need arises. I’ve thought a lot about it. I know someone who can provide me the necessary education.

Please, don’t come looking for me. Live your lives. Live your dreams…

Sarada-chan, I believe you are gonna become a very good Hokage when the time is right. I hope you never took my words seriously - I guess I was just fooling around for the sake of it. Let your potential shine - you have more than enough.

Boruto… you told her that you will be right beside her when she achieves her dream. Support and protect her for the both of us - not that she will need protection, not really.

Thank you for everything. I hope that, no matter how far our choices drift us apart, we will see each other once again in the future, even if to just look back at our past, smiling.

Best of luck, love you both…  
Mitsuki.

P.S.: Sarada-chan, you know how our plan was. Make it count.”

Boruto just stared at the letter for a minute, his mind and thoughts coming to a standstill.

He wasn’t aware that Sarada had approached him. In the total silence that surrounded them, they read it once again, in the hope that they might have misread a word, might rephrase some of them, so suddenly, it would mean a whole another thing.

And again.

And again… once more until they memorized each word by heart.

“I can’t believe he did this…” the girl mumbled, her voice shaky as tears brimmed her ebony eyes.

The blond slowly lowered the letter, his hand balling slowly into a fist…

Then he banged it against the wall, making Sarada jump a little.

“I’m going after him!” he said through gritted teeth. “That baka can’t just leave like this!”

“Boruto…”

“I know what you’re going to say! We should respect his wish, dad probably won’t let us, either, and I know you always do things right, but I don’t care!”

“Boruto…”

“He is our friend and he is like a brother to me, you don’t have to come with me but I’m going!”

“UZUMAKI BORUTO!” Sarada finally yelled.

“What?!” the blond snapped right back.

“Are you going to stay here and rant all night or are you coming with me?”

…

Naruto and Hinata were waiting outside. It had been quite a while since the two children went inside, but they didn’t want to interrupt.

“Lord seventh! My lord!”

At this sound, Naruto and Hinata looked at the jounin running towards them in slight panic. “What is it?” Naruto asked immediately.

The jounin took a second to breathe, and held out a small piece of paper to the hokage. “We received a stress message.”

Naruto immediately unfolded the paper, and his eyes widened as he scanned it.

'Rogue ninjas. Attack. Mitsuki.’

“My lord…?” the ninja asked, waiting for an order.

Before he could get a word out, Boruto and Sarada came running out of the door. “Dad!” the boy began. “We are going after Mitsuki, and nothing you can say can change our minds!”

“No…” the hokage said, his hand in which the note was curling into a fist. “You are not. We are.” He turned to look at his wife. “Hinata, I might need your help in this.”

“Of course,” the woman said immediately.

Boruto immediately felt something was way off with their attitude, and his eyes locked on the end of a crumpled paper that stuck out of his father’s fist. “Dad - what is that?”

Naruto assessed him for a moment, not knowing what to do. “You two will be staying here.”

“Why? What are you hiding from us?!”

The older man sighed, then gave the note to his son. Both of the children’s eyes widened in a second.

“The hell I am staying here!” Boruto yelled so loud that the jounin jumped a little.

“Lord seventh, please, you have to let us come…!” Sarada said, her tone slightly desperate.

“We don’t know what’s waiting for us… There is no need for you to get into danger, too…”

He realized it too late that it was a mistake.

“How can you expect me to stay here when Mitsuki is in danger?!” his son demanded through gritted teeth, furious.

“We can handle ourselves, you won’t have to look after us, we promise!” the young Uchiha put in, almost frantic now.

“Naruto… we are losing time…” Hinata pointed out.

The hokage closed his eyes for a moment. “You will do exactly what I or Hinata tell you, nothing rash, no matter what you see or hear. Now follow us quickly.” 

…

’Which way could the child have gone?’

’He… Wouldn’t try to fight a group of rogue nins… Right…?’

’No, no, no, he’s a clever kid, he knows better… Damn don’t lose focus, he should’ve sent the note just as a warning, of course he needed to write in a hurry…’

His thoughts jumbled together in a mess while running as fast as he can to the border, ahead of the others.

He slowed down a little as he came to the border guards, surely someone would have seen Mitsuki leaving? He never thought he would see a familiar old face there, though. “Kiba?” he asked in surprise.

The Inuzuka raised his head as soon as he heard the Hokage’s voice not too far from him. 

“Lord Seventh,” he said, of course he had to call him by the formal title, no matter how good friends they are. He spotted his ex-teammate and her child, as well as the little Uchiha girl. “Hinata? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“We received a stress message… from Mitsuki. He said there was an attack…” Naruto explained quickly, and his slight panic made everyone look alert. “Did any of you see the child leaving? Where he could have gone?” He directed these questions to the border guards. “We need to find him quickly…”

But the guards shook their heads. “No, Lord Hokage, we did not see anyone pass by.” They were being honest, Naruto could see it, none of them were hiding anything.

“Mitsuki?” Kiba murmured before looking back outside the gates. “It can’t be…”

“What is it, Kiba?” Hinata approached him, concern filling her eyes. Kiba bit his lip, he could not say this loud, not in front of the kids… He approached the Hokage and his wife.

“Back in our mission… the dogs smelled blood, and so did we…”

And just like that, Naruto felt his blood running cold as his fears returned to him in full force. “W… what do you mean? What blood, whose blood? Where was it coming from?” 

“I just rushed here to check myself - it’s not too far from here, by the river near that clearing… But Naruto… It doesn’t smell good…”

“Dad?” Boruto suddenly appeared behind the hokage’s elbow, worry and impatience apparent on his face. “Why aren’t we leaving already?”

Naruto turned around to face his son and tried to hide the fear on his face, he couldn’t tell him simply like this that his best friend… was probably… 

But before the Hokage could even open his mouth, there was a noise… Loud voices, it seemed, they couldn’t really tell, not too far…

The Hokage immediately turned towards the gates but there was noone there. Kiba shushed the guards’ whispers as he too turned to face the forest ahead of Konoha.

“You are not weak, huh? Bring me the boy’s head.”

“You bastard! I’m not gonna do that to a child!” 

The phrases were enough to chill everyone to immobility. 

“What the hell…?” Kiba growled, his eyes going wide.

’God, no…’ Naruto thought as he almost automatically sprung out of his shock, just out of the sheer need to save the kid, knowing that they were counting on seconds, maybe nano-seconds. 

Seeing his dad in action forced Boruto out of his shock, too, and the two children quickly sprung after the hokage.

“MITSUKI!!!” Both Boruto’s and Sarada’s voices echoed through the night as frantic prayers rushed through their minds.

As she turned to follow her husband and the children, Hinata glanced back at Kiba for a second. “Kiba - go to the hospital, alert Sakura!”

’Dammit… Please make it in time…!’ Naruto thought fervently, his teeth gritted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ON THE NEXT CHAPTER… 
> 
> “Why won’t anyone come to your aid, even when we are so close… outsider?”
> 
> “You are nobody. Noone moves a finger for a nobody.”
> 
> “Alright, kid, enough with the silly games. Now I’m getting serious.”
> 
> “What’s the problem, kid? Did you really think we were a bunch of rogue nins with no special talents?”
> 
> “Are you really that pathetic, that desperate to belong somewhere that you laid down everything for those who don’t care?”


	8. Outsider

CHAPTER 7 - OUTSIDER

A quick assessment of his backpack showed him that he really wasn’t rich on the weapons department.

He had a dozen shurikens and three kunais. Of course, this wasn’t his usual amount of equipment, but he wanted to keep it light for the journey.

He took one of the kunais in his hand, and his fingers curled a bit more on it as he realized which one it was.

It was the one that his sensei gifted to all three of them after their first C-ranked mission.

“I will make you proud, sensei…” he whispered.

He quickly thought his plan over - the basic principles of diversion.

Of course, the most basic was to stay hidden - confuse the enemy, so much so that they wouldn’t even know that he was all alone out here.

’Not for long,’ he thought fervently. ’Just draw them closer to the border…’

Aside from his weapons, of course, he had his taijutsu and ninjutsu. Shuriken throws weren’t exactly his specialty, but through the year since Konohamaru platoon was formed, he had become better and better at extending his limbs - and putting that to good use. Being agile on his feet helped, too.

Then… he also had his few earth and water natured attacks, but… Maybe it would be best to leave those for later. He didn’t know what nature the enemy had, after all.

He went over the comparison in his head.

Water was powerful over fire. Earth was powerful over water.

And they both shared one weakness. Mitsuki shivered just thinking about that.

Lightning… 

If there was even one lightning-natured ninja among his opponents… Things would turn out really, really bad.

He tried not to think about it. Yup, just relying on his taijutsu techniques for now… should do the trick.

’Your plan is only as good as its weakest link…’ he heard Konohamaru’s voice inside his head.

Well… it wasn’t like he would know how ‘good’ his plan was until he tried…

…

The woman’s jutsu should have started to take effect by now. Pity it was kind of a slow jutsu - it was very good…

“Alright, all of you know what to do,” the blond man began. “Hideyoshi will go upfront, giving us our targets and warning us, should anyone of a particularly high level of chakra crosses our path. Me and Takeru are the main offensive, we follow suit. Hiraku… stay as far away from the battleground as possible, remember our formation, wait for my signal. Scatter, we don’t have to follow the linear formation, just watch out for the signals we talked about. Any questions?”

“Just one thing…” the mahogany-haired man replied in a gruff voice, his eyes gazing upwards at the tree branches. “We are not alone.”

Everyone in the squad tensed suddenly. “Where?” the blond, apparently the squad leader asked, unconsciously leaning a little forward in an attack stance. “How strong?”

“Nothing to really worry about, it’s a weak chakra, maybe chuunin, although that’s even a far chance.” The man, Hideyoshi, brought an arrow and took a small, silver bow out. “Shall I greet him?”

“Wait… I’m kinda curious of what he will do…”

“Playing cat and mouse again?” said a man with long, platium blond hair tied in a ponytail down his one shoulder.

“Well, noone knows me better than you do, Hiraku,” the man said, smirking.

A minute passed in silence as only the sounds of nature was heard around them.

“Huh.” the black haired man finally said. “It would seem that someone needs an incentive. Tell me, Goro, what was that ninjutsu of yours capable to do in direct contact?”

Catching up to what he was trying to do, the blond, Goro, was quick to come up with his own. “That was this technique I improvised. In direct contact with the neck area… Well, let’s just say that the head pops out better than a coke ring. It’s much like the previous Raikage’s lariat. That’s what I’m gonna use on the hokage, too.”

There was a rustle above, and then silence again.

“That’s right… Show yourself…” Goro said, his smirk growing.

Seconds ticked away, with no new move from either sides.

“Why don’t you go into hiding, sweet cheeks? That bastard not seeing you here might work for our advantage.” Goro said to the woman. She glared at him for the briefest of seconds, but did as he told.

“Well,” the man continued non-chalantly, raising his voice. “I suppose, whoever you are, you just don’t care enough to come out and face us. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a village to ransack and some kage to kill.”

Suddenly, the man felt a sharp but small pain on his shoulder and brought his hand to the place the shuriken had cut his skin. Instead of feeling angry, though, an eager look came over his face.

“Scatter, formation B, he is at two o'clock above us.” The squad members did as he told so, and Goro mumbled to himself. “Now we begin our first hunt.”

…

He knew he shouldn’t have done that. He had given away his position, and he wasn’t entirely prepared to come up with a plan. But he couldn’t stop himself - not after what he had heard…

He heard a whoosh sound and managed to dodge an arrow. He couldn’t stay here for too long…

Suddenly, a black-haired, tall man jumped in front of him, on the branch, making the boy do a double-take.

“Knock knock,” the man said with a smirk.

As he met eyes with the opponent, the young man was surprised to see that… it was just a little child, possibly not older than fifteen, if even that. Really? A brat could believe that he could beat them?

The next thing he noticed was that there was no headband on the opponent. His eyebrows furrowed.

They were being cornered by a kid - not even a ninja? That was an insult!

Growling through gritted teeth, he gathered his chakra to use air currents - he will make that brat fall, just like he would eventually fall before them.

Mitsuki’s eyes widened when he saw the man was preparing for an attack, and he did the first thing that came to his mind. He did a quick handsign to create a basic water technique, and without waiting to see whether it worked or not, he jumped, using his arm to land away safely.

Obviously pissed off, Takeru made to follow him, but as soon as he moved he slid and almost fell from the branch.

He growled angrily as he got to his feet again. Ice… That brat was either too clever or too damn lucky.

…

The boy had landed safely, but as soon as he gathered his footing, he had to dodge another arrow.

“Katon!” he heard a yell from behind and came to a skidding halt. He turned quickly just as the voice once again shouted. “Housenka no jutsu (Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique)!”

Luckily, there was the river nearby. Mitsuki drew a considerably big wall of water right in front of him before the small balls of flame reached him, and the flames died down.

But then he felt a sharp pain on his cheek. “Ow,” he whispered.

“That’s for earlier!”

Hearing the man’s voice coming closer, the boy again ran.

So there was a fire user and an air user… He could deal with that. The river originated from Konoha, and for now, that was all he needed.

…

Takeru approached Goro. 

“Scratch the chuunin idea. We’re dealing with a kid.”

“Really?” the blond thought about it for a minute. “In any case, we can’t let him escape now that he has the chance to spoil our surprise. We have to finish him here before moving on to the village.”

“You do realize he has water nature?”

“Yeah, but too early to go with the bonus attack. Let him think that he can do it for now. Tire him out. Then I can finish him off with one clean blow.”

“You really like your games, don’t you? Suzume can’t keep it forever. Better be quick.”

With that, the man disappeared.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are…” Goro said in a sing-song voice, starting to walk. “Come on, kid, we can’t keep this forever.”

… 

There was an opening.

If he could just speed up without being seen in the wrong time, there was a chance that he could reach the border. He could see the silhouette of the gates rising in the distance…

Suddenly, Takeru jumped in front of him.

“Where do you think you’re going? We’re not finished here yet.”

Not having any other choice, Mitsuki drew his kunai out, the one that Konohamaru gave him. The man raised an eyebrow.

“Tch. Pitiful. Let me show you a real weapon.”

He took out a kunai himself, but it looked larger and sharper than any other kunai he saw before. It seemed special…

’I’m proud of all three of you. This mission was a complete success in many ways. Here is your reward.’

But… his blade was special, too. He couldn’t let anyone make fun of it.

And he certainly couldn’t lose here.

They clashed. The man was quick, and he was clearly quite good handling a blade. Although thanks to his agility, Mitsuki was able to dodge most of the slashes.

“You know, kid…” the young man said with a smirk, they were nose to nose. “For some reason, I am known as Takeru the cat.”

“For some reason… I am called the snake…” Mitsuki said through gritted teeth.

Takeru chuckled. “You know how the nature’s law works, right? Cats eat snakes.”

He pushed the boy away and slashed with his kunai, using his air nature to put a little more force behind it. Mitsuki flinched a little when the blade cut his shoulder.

“You really shouldn’t have interfered,” the man kept on talking. “Who are you, anyway? To challenge jounins? What do you have up your sleeve that makes you so confident?”

Suddenly, he had to take a step back and cover his eyes in frustration. The kid had the guts to throw earth in his eyes?

“Two can play this game, you little…” he raised his head to find out that the child was gone.

This was really beginning to get on his nerves.

…

As he dodged another arrow, Mitsuki realized one thing - for some reason, it felt like the archer’s aim wasn’t exactly him. It felt like he was missing him on purpose…

The blond, Goro as he heard his name, jumped in front of him, a ball of flame in his raised hand. Mitsuki couldn’t find the appropriate time, and suddenly felt a sharp pain on his arm, although this time there seemed to be no weapon in sight. He gasped.

Goro smirked. “End of road here, kid. You can’t last long.”

And the boy ran again.

They… the ninjas were not exactly keeping it low - actually, they were practically shouting whatever they spoke to him. It wouldn’t take long now, reinforcements would be here anytime…

Although… what took them so long…?

Surely his message… should have reached them, right?

As he was running as fast as he could, now towards the river… Another arrow was shot in front of him. He stopped in his tracks, looked back to where it was headed from…

He had to take that archer out.

He saw Takeru for a minute - he was indeed fast - then he used his arm jutsu to lift himself up in the air, landing on a branch, continuing his run through the trees, towards where he was almost fully positive that the arrows were shot.

Another arrow was shot to his direction and finally, he saw the archer. Their eyes met for a brief second before the child jumped from the tree, and the man’s eyes widened - he was clearly taken aback.

“Doton!” the blue haired boy cried out. “Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu (Double suicide Decapitation technique)!”

It was as if the earth had turned into clay, letting him slip underground effortlessly. It was a quite easy genin technique he had learned. He quickly moved towards his target…

Hideyoshi felt someone grab his feet from below, and gasped as he was taken underground. At the same moment, he heard something snap and felt sharp pieces of that broken thing - his bow, if he had to guess - stabbing his arms and legs.

Seeing the figure in front of him, though, he had no time to concentrate on the pain.

“Wait!” he yelled, and the boy turned to look at him.

He… was just a small child? Possibly even younger than his own son? Hideyoshi felt his breath hitching as he gazed at the young boy’s face.

“Kid, don’t do this!” he yelled desperately. “They are going to kill you!”

Now it was Mitsuki’s turn to get baffled. He… cared?

“I’m gonna be alright,” he said confidently, though he didn’t know why he felt like reassuring this person. “Reinforcements are coming, too.”

The man felt his heart clench. “No… you don’t understand at all. There is…”

Out of nowhere kunais were thrown, sharper and longer kunais that the mahogany haired man knew was Takeru’s specialty, and before he could complete his sentence, the boy had ran away.

“You can’t keep running forever. Sooner or later…” he heard Takeru’s voice and his head snapped back to him.

“Takeru, stop this! He is just a child!”

The man looked at him with an indifferent expression. “So what? Mind your business - get out of there!”

And with that, he was gone.

Hideyoshi gritted his teeth, trying to move his body around, but to no avail. If he could get out of here… He had to warn the boy, and maybe find a safe route to get him out of there…

A child had no place in a battleground like this.

…

He was close! He could make it!

Mitsuki’s eyes lit up when he once again saw the gates looming in front of him. They weren’t too far…

“You little runt!”

The boy had no time to react at all.

The black haired man grabbed the child’s arm, and using his air element again, he threw him over - right into a tree.

Mitsuki felt his breath whoosh out with the impact and was not as quick to control his landing.

He cried out loud when he fell on his left arm - and a searing pain shot up from his elbow upwards. He held it - trying to keep the pain away - and his rising panic was not helping the whole matter.

“HELP!” he cried out, suddenly desperate. Weren’t they close enough? Couldn’t they hear him?

Why wasn’t anyone coming…?

…

Once again, Takeru approached Goro, using the time the kid took to get up to his advantage.

“The kid is catching up,” he said through gritted teeth. “We need to go serious. He has water AND earth natures. It IS the time.”

“I’m not using the blade more than unnecessary. Attack him then - psychologically.” Goro jerked his head to the direction of the village.

Takeru huffed, already bored of this. “You better get ready for that final blow of yours.”

…

As soon as he thought he could disregard the pain and get up…

The boy had to jump sideways, avoiding another kunai throw. “Ow,” he whispered, his arm really hurt.

“Look at you,” he heard Takeru’s voice. “You fight and fight for that village… I don’t even know if you belong there, no headband and all… But you still fight. And what do you get in return?” The man’s eyes glinted maliciously. “Why won’t anyone come to your aid, even when we are so close… outsider?”

The boy’s eyes widened when he heard that last word.

’He is right, y'know,’ the voice in his head made an unpleasant comeback. ’You should’ve bailed when you had the time. Now you’re all alone…’

’No!’ Mitsuki thought to himself, although his resolution was waning. ’I’m not alone!’

’But you are… look where this kind of thought brought you!’

“You are nobody,” Takeru said, painfully in synch with the voice. “Noone moves a finger for a nobody. You’re not gonna make it out of here.”

’Why do you fight?’ the voice whispered.

As the black haired man moved forward, the boy yelled in rage and jumped, again using his jutsu to extend his uninjured arm, made a somersoult in the air and landed on a slightly more distant branch. His left arm hurt a lot from the sudden moves, but he didn’t have the time to concentrate on it as he used his right arm again…

Luck was with him this time as his arm wrapped around the man’s throat and tightened. Takeru came to a very sudden stop and gasped, and then tried to get Mitsuki’s arm loose, growing desperate when it didn’t. The blue haired boy just looked at his opponent…

He… couldn’t do it.

He wouldn’t have to do anything drastic, really. He already had the man in a deadlock, just a slight more tightening of his arm, or even a hard jerk to break the neck and spare him the agony of suffocating should do the trick. That might be his only chance, too, anything less and the man would be just one more in this obviously unfair fight. His father’s words echoed through his mind, that if the need arises, he shouldn’t hesitate to kill his opponent. Killing intent was important for a ninja, and these guys obviously had it.

But he couldn’t.

He didn’t know just how to express what the feeling was, it was as sudden as his decision to become a med-nin. And he wanted to become a med-nin. He wanted to rescue people, not take lives.

The man’s color was slowly changing from purple to blue. His pupils dilated and he gurgled once more, before finally going still. Mitsuki let go, catching his breath.

He would live. But at least he was not going to be a nuisance for a while.

Suddenly, he heard a weird buzz coming from somewhere nearby, not too close, but close enough.

“Alright, kid, enough with the silly games,” came Goro’s rough, merciless voice, a hint of mirk in it. “Now I’m getting serious.”

…

Damn, the kid was good.

It had not been a very long time since he met Takeru, but he knew he wasn’t an easy person to mess around with. He was very quick, and his shuriken jutsu and special kunais made him a formidable enemy and a trustworthy ally. True, he was damn arrogant for his own good, but he had been an important part of the squad.

And that brat had taken him down.

The situation indeed called for a drastic solution. He sighed in frustration - he had hoped he wouldn’t have to resort to that.

Water and earth, huh…?

Well, it was just the kid’s luck that he had the perfect jutsu to counter those two elements.

With his left hand, he grabbed his right wrist, concentrating his chakra to the sole of his palm. “Raiton!” he yelled, and felt a powerful energy surging through him. “Lightning blade!”

A sudden bolt of lightning, coming out of nowhere, flashed from the sky and landed right inside his palm, forming a long, blade form of shape. The man’s smirk grew and he concentrated on his chakra to make the blade smaller, to the point of a short sword. Then he looked above at the trees.

“Here I come.”

…

Mitsuki’s eyes widened when he heard the man’s yell.

This… this was bad, this was what he had feared. He needed help - right now!

He turned away to run…

But before he can move far away, something hit him from behind, and pain like he never knew went through his body as the blue haired boy tasted blood in his mouth.

His knees became weak and he toppled forward, falling to his knees. Tremors shook his body as a current went through it.

Someone landed right in front of him.

“Right where you belong, you vermin… Down at my feet.”

Just out of instinct, Mitsuki barely jumped back, his actions sloppy. He managed to raise a wall of earth in front of him before the blade made a second attack.

The wall shattered and crumbled when the lightning hit it. At least the attack had stopped…

The boy yelped when suddenly, small explosions went all around him. He dodged a few of them, but he wasn’t quick enough to dodge a slightly bigger one that happened right to his left…

And for a moment, he couldn’t hear anything but a weird ringing and his balance was set off. He felt something wet slide down the side of his face, and his vision blurred.

Explosions…?

Before he had the time to process on this, he heard Goro move again, and just out of the need to survive, he used his arm jutsu once again, but he was unstable and weak, and his momentum ended up throwing him into the river…

Hurt… it hurt…

He watched as the water turned red around him. He… was bleeding…

“What’s the problem, kid?” he heard Goro’s voice, and his pulse quickened. He had to get out of here! “Did you really think we were a bunch of rogue nins with no special talents?”

He had to run!

He had nothing, noone to rely on… He had to run, get out of here…

His eyes burned slightly as he tried to straighten himself. He was just thirteen… Just a kid… He didn’t want to die!

’Oh, and you realize this only now?’ the voice in his head mocked. ’I never noticed you were so clever!’

Tuning out the voice as best as he could, he turned around and his eyes widened when he saw Goro by the edge of the river.

He thought the man would directly attack him again, but when he saw that the man instead lowered his hand to the water, he acted quick, using his jutsu again - but his arm didn’t extend too much then - just enough to grab a lower branch. He still managed to pull himself out right before the whole river was electrocuted.

He used his momentum to swing around the tree, turning right around to kick the man from behind, making him fall into the river.

The elder man’s body jerked forward as the electric shock went through his body. Mitsuki stood there for a moment - did he do it?

Then the blond raised his head, chuckling. “Thank you, kid. I needed that.”

Scared for life now, Mitsuki ran.

He tripped, but used all his strength to keep on.

How much time had passed since he sent Isis? The note? Fifteen minutes maybe? More? Didn’t anyone receive these? Didn’t anyone hear him?

’Why did you even try to protect them?’ He wanted to scream out of frustration and desperation. This wasn’t the time! ’Are you really that pathetic, that desperate to belong somewhere that you laid down everything for those who don’t care?’

No… that couldn’t be… Maybe not everyone cared, but there was his friends…

Although he would never want them to be here, in this same situation as him…

His sensei…

…who didn’t even know where he was…

The hokage…

Didn’t he receive his note yet…?

Why… why was he still alone…?

Noone moves his finger for a nobody…

Was this… really how it was like…?

’Your father would be ashamed to see how low you got for a village that doesn’t even appreciate you…’ spit the voice maliciously.

Even his father… he wasn’t there…

His lip started to tremble. When was the last time his father… was ever really… proud of him…?

He couldn’t remember just one minute.

He had always tried to praise him… He had always thought he didn’t need anything in return, it was a natural thing for him to respect and value his father, he loved him so…

But he never… ever got anything of that in return…

Tears threatened to fall, but he refused to let them go. He couldn’t show his weakness… Never, especially not in front of the enemy. This was the mantra…

He heard footsteps tailing close behind him, and his fogged mind managed to come up with a last-minute plan. It had worked on Takeru… 

He pulled himself up on a branch again, almost losing his foothold. He looked down on the ground, watched as Goro came running, looking around, the lightning blade sizzling and ablaze on his right hand…

This was his only chance.

He used his jutsu again, and for a moment, felt his body almost going numb with the amount of chakra he used… although it wasn’t supposed to be too much.

… 

That was it! The boy had fallen for his trap! 

He had seen his jutsu at work when Takeru fell victim to it. It was easy to see through - especially now that the boy was tired. Of course, the lightning blade had also eaten away at the kid’s chakra, so his moves seemed like in slow-motion.

So he had no no trouble catching the child’s arm - jerking him forward.

Mitsuki, already unstable, couldn’t do anything else and fell from the branch. He watched as the blond raised the blade and slashed it violently when he was close enough, and he shut his eyes tightly in horror.

The pain that followed… was unimaginable.

Mitsuki fell to his knees, panting, his right arm tightly pressed to his chest. It hurt so much… It felt like his chest was lit on fire… Maybe it really was…He didn’t know anything anymore…

’Outsider!’ a voice, a different voice now, called from inside his head. And then it was joined by other voices, slowly turning into a chant.

’We don’t want him here.’ came another voice, a younger one.

’Crawl back to your hole, snake!’

Did it really matter? Why… was he fighting…?

He gasped, and blood rushed forward from the severe burn on his chest, reddening his arm.

Why did he bother…?

He heard a rustle from behind him. Was Goro coming for another attack? Wasn’t this enough?

He really wanted to kill him after all…

With the last bit of his strength, trembling and almost falling down again as he did so, he got up and turned around…

…

This was it, the final blow.

Goro had already done a lot of damage. This had always been their battle tactic, Goro would wear the enemy out, and he would come in at the last second to finish it off. It had worked on the strongest enemies. It was no different with this pest.

He had to give it to the opponent, though. He was quick, obviously smart, and had put up a good fight, holding them off like that. He was…

… A kid …?

The hesitation came a little too late, and both of their eyes widened when his blade cut through the boy’s skin.

The kid had heard his move in the last second and turned to him, but he was probably too tired to move away in the appropriate time. Hiraku stared, shocked, at his pale golden eyes, as they stood like that for a second, everything buried in silence around them.

Realizing that he still had not taken out the sword, he yanked it out as gently as possible. Mitsuki gasped silently, brought both of his hands to the wound, and toppled forward.

Hiraku just stood there, petrified, as he watched the boy double in pain which was too much for his body, his sword listing limply by his side, covered in blood. 

He had just… attacked a child…

The sword slipped out of his suddenly sweaty grasp and fell with a soft patter to the ground as images, images he tried his best to ignore, flooded his mind, and psychological pain almost blinded his eyes.

Then he heard a thump from in front of him, and a fit of dirty blond hair blocked his vision of the kid.

“Finally,” Goro said, looking down at Mitsuki with a merciless leer. “Good job, Hiraku.”

He watched as Goro turned to him with that victorious expression, and then frowned in confusion. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

He couldn’t speak. What happened next erased all necessity to talk, anyway.

He heard Mitsuki moaning softly, and over Goro’s shoulder he watched as the boy tried to use his good arm to inch away from them. In that same moment, he saw the look of victory in Goro’s eyes turn to murderous hate, and the man turned back so quickly that he didn’t have time to react.

Mitsuki yelped in pain as the man’s kick smashed to the right of his chest and blood spattered from his mouth, while the violent attack effectively stopped his movement.

Hiraku grabbed Goro’s arm a little too harshly. “Stop this! We already did enough damage…”

“Why don’t you hurry up and die already, you pesky brat?!”

He knew?

He saw Goro raising his foot again and this time, throw himself on him to make him stop. “I said let it go! Damn, look at him, he’s just a kid!”

His comrade actually stopped and turned to look at him, surprised. “What, you didn’t know?”

“You knew?” Hiraku shouted, outraged at the confirmation of what he had suspected. “You bastard, you knew and you didn’t point out that we were beating the life out of a child?”

…

That was it. The kid had no living inside of him, and they could finally move to the bigger part of the prize. The woman was only really pissed off that after this battle, she wasn’t left with too many shots with her jutsu - she had lost considerable chakra keeping this shield up.

She finally entered the battlefield and approached the child, tuning out the two cloud morons as she noticed they had been engaged in an argument. She stopped right in front of the boy, putting one hand on her hips. 

“Not so brave now, are you, lone ranger?” she asked, her tone dripping heavily of sarcasm.

Mitsuki… couldn’t even feel anything anymore.

For one last attempt to get away… He shakily rose on his right arm a little, but his eyes completely blackened as a cough escaped from his mouth, bringing forth more blood. He slumped back on the ground…

The pain was slowly ebbing away… He wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing… He tried to pull happy memories, to cling on them as he waited for the inevitable…

’Why?’ whispered that voice in his head, and his heart broke as he realized that might as well be the last thing he would hear. ’What good did those do to you, you moron?’

The boy closed his eyes for a second, and felt something wet slipping under the eyelashes.

He had never felt so… alone, such a burden on everyone…

Another tear rolled down as he heard a woman’s voice from above him, and turned his head slowly to look at who was talking.

Suzume’s eyes widened, her pulse quickening when the boy turned to look at her. Those eyes… Every freaking person in the ninja world know who those eyes belong to and if this meant what she suspected it did… They were in big trouble.

’Shit…’ She thought, sweat dripping by the side of her face. She quickly looked up at the two arguing man.

“Can it, you two, we need to get the hell away from here!” She yelled, trying to make her voice heard.

But the other two were so caught up in their heated argument that they did not listen to her. Suzume frowned ’To the hell with them, I’m out of here…!’ she thought before she sprinted and disappeared in between the high trees of the forest.

…

Goro’s eyes hardened as he continued to look at him, and suddenly, Hiraku saw the monster that usually only their opponents see. “Let me refreshen my memory. We are jounins with the purpose to assasinate the Hokage, the most powerful ninja in this damned village. And two of those who I have the misfortune to call my allies are already down. Actually, if it was not for me… You weaklings wouldn’t have any chance coming this close to the border. At all.”

“We are not weak,” Hiraku spat, feeling his own temper rising. “We were just caught unawared.”

Goro was very quick. He leapt forward and Hiraku suddenly found himself slightly lifted to the air, with the blond man’s hands at his shirt collar.

“Is that so?” said the blond, drawing the other closer. “This is our only explanation for being bested by a worthless pup?”

Hiraku just stared at Goro, disgusted.

“Prove it,” Goro said to Hiraku, the two were now practically eye to eye. “You’re not weak? So be it.”

He watched as the glare on the blond’s face turned into a soulless smirk.

“I want the boy’s head.”

“What?” Hiraku whispered, unable to believe he said just that.

“What, never heard of trophy hunters?” Goro asked, his smirk taking on a more insane quality. “I won this hunt, and I want my trophy. You are not weak, huh? Bring me the boy’s head.”

Bile rose up in Hiraku’s throat as he truly realized what kind of an inhuman being his companion truly was. “You bastard! I’m not doing that to a child!”

“Not weak, huh?” Goro repeated, squinting at him with great distaste. There was a moment of silence.

“Fine, I’ll do it myself.” Goro said and threw Hiraku back with all his might, reaching for the sword he had dropped.

“No! Goro, stay away from the boy!”

Darkness overwhelmed Mitsuki, but not before he saw a shadow nearby, someone who felt familiar… Then he felt the presence of someone warm, someone he can trust… and he felt no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ON THE NEXT CHAPTER…
> 
> “Please… are you a medic? Go check on the boy, I’m not gonna try to escape!”
> 
> “B… Boruto, turn him over gently, I need to listen to his heart.”
> 
> “M… Mitsuki… H-hey… Can you hear me? Answer me… Please…?”
> 
> “You came…”
> 
> “Don’t… you dare approach my son.”


	9. Saving Someone Precious

CHAPTER 8 - SAVING SOMEONE PRECIOUS

He was getting worried by now.

When Isis came to the hideout about an hour ago, he wasn’t really pleased - first because Isis said Mitsuki had decided to leave Konoha for some reason, and second because… the child had practically called himself to his feet. He had considered not going at all - until Juugo said he could go in his stead. He was not having that.

“How long until we arrive?” he asked.

The snake had herself coiled around his neck. “Not far from here. His chakra is unstable though. I don’t know why.”

Why would that be the case? His boy had close to excellence chakra control, thanks to years of training.

Something was wrong…

Suddenly, Isis hissed in recognition.

“Orochimaru-sama!”

The sannin saw what the snake’s eyes already caught. A small, white rattle snake, sliding on the ground towards them. “Koburo!” he exclaimed as he recognized his son’s pet snake.

The snake stopped in front of them and rose to its full height, hissing non-stop. The female snake immediately replied to him, and it was all it took Orochimaru to wait until they were finished.

“This is not good…” said Isis finally.

Thank you for stating the obvious, he almost said, but he had no patience. “What is it?”

“Koburo says Mitsuki-sama was attacked by a group of ninjas… He tried to stop him, but when that didn’t work, he rushed as quickly as he can to find us…”

Orochimaru had only listened to half of what she said. “Lead the way, Isis!”

And they were off again. He was trying to focus on just finding his son, but it was hard. Why was he attacked? How bad was the situation?

And most importantly… Why did he leave the village at the dead of night in the first place?

He reached the end of the river pretty quickly, that was where they were supposed to meet… He turned around himself, teeth gritted. “Where to??”

“His chakra is getting weaker, he’s in the woods away from the river… I’m sure…”

Then there was a poof sound and the man felt the weight on his shoulders suddenly being completely lifted. He stopped dead in his tracks, his mind racing, his eyes widening.

’Damn… what is that child doing…?’ he thought frantically, and he took off again.

Isis disappearing could only mean one thing. Mitsuki was too weak to keep the connection. He simply refused to think the other possibility. He would not let some sort of low specimen to take his son away from him. Anyone who even thought about hurting his boy… would pay dearly…

The only problem was… now he had no leads on the child. Isis could sense his chakra… With her out of the picture, the most he could do was to follow the sounds of a fight… which was another problem, seeing that there was none.

How was that even possible? There was a warm, healthy breeze in the spring night, and air dispersed sound… It wasn’t logically possible that he wouldn’t hear a battle going on.

Unless…

The sannin gritted his teeth. He had never, ever let emotions control him before. He wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen now.

Something on the forest floor near the river then caught his eyes and he stopped just for a minute to check.

Blood…?

Without the moon, there was not enough light,but he was positive that it was blood. He had no doubt now - there was a fight.

He was becoming really, really unsettled now - how was he to find Mitsuki? He checked around to see if there were any leading trails… But after a few steps, they had stopped… Was the boy taken to somewhere else?

His blood ran cold. He ran to the tree where he could last follow the trail…

“This is our only explanation for being bested by a worthless pup?”

Finally getting what he had been waiting for, he jumped on the tree to get a bird’s eye view. Before he did that, though, he noticed more blood stains on the branch he landed…

“You’re not weak? So be it.”

With the words, he turned to face the direction they came from.

He noticed a couple of things all at once, and his pulse quickened.

There were two men, standing only a couple of feet away, apparently arguing. And right behind them, on the ground, facing himself…

There was no mistaking the tossled white-blue hair. It was his son… His hair, his clothing…

What didn’t belong to him here was, the sannin realized as he took in the scene… was blood, lots and lots of blood from the wounds across his body, and pooling underneath him…

For a moment, he couldn’t see anything but a dark red haze in front of his eyes… Mitsuki was… badly injured…? And those bastards were just standing above him, while he lay broken on the ground…? They were not dead, not chopped to pieces, not begging for their worthless lives…?

He felt something crunch as his hand balled into a fist and altough it was hard, he peeled his eyes away from Mitsuki to take a look around, see if there was any other low life. He noticed an unconscious man not too far away, and a movement drew his gaze to a mahogany-haired man with… only his head on the ground.

An earth attack? That seemed like Mitsuki…

“I want the boy’s head.”

Instinct - instinct for blood - took over and Orochimaru jumped from the tree he was standing on - leaving a big, hand-sized crush on its side.

…

Goro approached the boy and stood there for a minute, looking at the boy with a soulless gaze. It wasn’t his fault the boy attacked them. The damned brat had caused them to lose at least a third of their chakra - and they were supposed to go after the Hokage - now they had no chance at all. He was going to pay. He would make sure they wouldn’t return empty-handed.

Just when he raised the sword and swung it however… The unconscious boy was no longer there.

He didn’t even see anything. “What the hell…?”

“You want his head?” came a booming voice from seemingly nowhere. Goro, and Hiraku behind him, looked around to pinpoint the source. “I will give you one!”

Then there was a mighty explosion, enough to shake the forest from its roots.

…and out of the explosion rolled a mahogany-haired head… Their comrade, Hideyoshi’s lifeless eyes stared at them from the ground…

…

Naruto had barely had enough time to activate his shield a nano-second before the explosion - thankfully covering everyone.

As the sound of the blast died down, Boruto and Sarada’s eyes widened. Their scream rang in the night as sounds of a fight could be heard from somewhere very close.

“MITSUKI!!!”

…

As the brunt of the blast started to fade away, Orochimaru straightened himself from the position he was in, leaning completely over his son to protect him from the explosion.

He took one lingering look at him before gently lowering him to the ground, as if afraid to break him even more… which, if he had to be honest, he was.

“You just hang in there for a minute, child,” he whispered, though he didn’t know how Mitsuki could hear him…

…

The two cloud ninjas had barely enough time to cover themselves - and recover from the shock of seeing Hideyoshi’s disembodied head…

Suddenly, a vicious shuriken attack came from behind the flames, and being caught unprepared, Hiraku felt the blades pinning him to the tree behind him, one cutting into his right elbow.

Goro took out a kunai threw it blindly towards the flames, just in an attempt to slow down whoever was coming from in between, only a tall silhouette visible. Then he activated the lightning blade once again…

Orochimaru stepped out from the flames, his eyes burning, his blood boiling with bloodlust. He took in the expression of the bastard who ordered for Mitsuki’s head… How his furious and agressive demeanor faltered and changed rapidly into one that of panic and desperation.

Of course… every ninja in this damned world knew about his reputation.

“What’s the matter… NOT so brave now?” the sannin hissed through his teeth as he bit his finger, allowing a drip of blood to ooze from the cut. “Not the same as going against a child… MY child, is it?”

The blond’s eyes widened when he heard that. Out of all the people that could find them… They fought the son of one of the most feared creatures in the world…? ’Holy shit…’ he thought as his hand with the blade started dropping to his side.

Then he turned and tried to run.

“Kuchiyose no jutsu!” Three large snakes erupted from the ground and immediately surrounded the man, hissing and snapping at him.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going? We just began!” And with that, Orochimaru leapt forward.

…

The signs of the battle were making themselves more and more clear as they approached a certain place in the forest. They had known they were close when they found Mitsuki’s belongings and his traveling cloak all abandoned behind a tree.

But as they arrived at the battlefield… the last thing the Hokage expected to see was Orochimaru, engaged in a fierce battle.

Hinata’s eyes quickly spotted other presences other than Orochimaru and the man he was fighting. “Naruto, over there!”

Worry was taking over Naruto’s calm demeanor rather quickly - where was the child? And why did he feel his chakra was… fading slowly…? What the hell happened?

At his wife’s voice, his mind quickly snapped back to business mode, and he spotted the thin, black haired man trying to make a run for it. With a yell and a quick leap, he blocked the way of the opponent. “Not so quick,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

The ninja quickly overcame the surprise of seeing the Hokage, the very one they had been planning to assassinate that very night, right in front of him. A furious and determined look came across his face as he readied himself to a fight.

Hinata had spotted Hiraku, still pinned against a tree. With her Byakugan activated, she approached the man. “Not a move,” she said.

…

There was a fight going on… They didn’t know how many enemies there were… But none of that mattered to Boruto right then as he was frantically looking for his best friend. “Mitsuki!” he called desperately, turning around himself, eyes searching everywhere. Cold dread gripped his heart, and his breath came out hitched. 

Where was he?? 

“B… Boruto…” he heard Sarada choke out, her voice barely above a whisper, and he followed her gaze…

His eyes widened as his heart almost came to a stop at the sight in front of them.

A scene that was right out of a horror movie…

His friend… Broken, blood covered and unmoving… right in front of them…

…

The sannin watched with great satisfaction as his opponent scarpered away for him - tried to, at the very least. Orochimaru was playing with him, making him think that he could escape… but of course he wasn’t going to let him go. No, he was going to enjoy each and every moment of causing this poor excuse of a human being agony.

Goro slashed at the snakes with the lightning blade, but they were quick, easily dodging it. He was getting weaker… Keeping the blade up required a lot of chakra, and he had already lost quite a lot in the fight.

Gritting his teeth, he deactivated the blade and took a kunai out - he had to bail out of here, and for that he needed his strength. He…

Suddenly, Orochimaru jumped right in front of him, out of nowhere, and before he knew, the blond took a strong kick to his chest, forcing him to fly backwards and landing hard on the ground, the kunai in his hand flying to the other side.

Before he could even get up, he felt something crawling up his wrists, armpits, knees and feet… The snakes all hissed at him, baring their fangs, their tiny pupils seemingly reflecting hatred…

He raised his head a little and met a pair of golden, serpent-like eyes, glaring at him with such a cold expression that he felt his blood freeze.

The snakes tightened around his limbs, and a pain-filled moan escaped his mouth despite himself.

“Does it hurt?” Orochimaru hissed, squinting. “Is it even remotely close to what you did to my son?”

“We didn’t attack the child!” Goro yelled. “We just defended ourselves!”

The frown deepened more, and the snakes tightened more, too, so much so that he began feeling numb.

“Consider this self-defense, you worthless bastard.” 

Raising its head, the snake on his right armpit dug its fangs deep into his arm - so deep it almost reached the bone. The man let out a cry, his body jerking. “Holy… shit… Stop…”

The sannin came to kneel beside the man, grabbing his head roughly and pushing it back, looking in his eyes with a hellish fury. “Try to have some dignity, scum! You are not dead… No, not yet, I guarantee you that it’s not gonna be easy… But you are paralyzed. You won’t be able to move, you won’t be able to scream.” His eyes glinted maliciously. “Let’s see how YOU will like it… Where would you want me to start?”

…

“You… what?”

“I surrender!” Hinata was surprised by the urgency in the man’s voice. “Please… are you a medic? Go check on the boy, I’m not gonna try to escape!”

Granted, the man was obviously securely pinned to the tree, but something about the way he readily accepted defeat… The woman couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious with that.

Then she heard a panicked yell, and she forgot about everything else.

…

“MITSUKI!” Sarada and Boruto both yelled, finally snapping out of their shocked stupor. They both leapt forward, almost tripping on their own feet in their haste.

There was no reply.

Boruto felt his pulse quickening as he fell to his knees beside his friend, and he gasped at the full-on sight. The younger boy was lying in a pool of his own blood - a huge pool at that, and the wounds on his chest and stomach were still bleeding.

“Oh god…” Sarada whispered in a shaky voice. She grabbed Mitsuki’s hand, putting two fingers on his inner wrist. “I… I can’t…” she mumbled, tears filling into her eyes. “B… Boruto, turn him over gently, I need to listen to his heart.”

“W… wha… He doesn’t…” Boruto whispered weakly, gathering his friend gently in his arms. The way in which Mitsuki’s head listed limply to one side scared the living out of him. As Sarada laid her head on Mitsuki’s chest, he lightly slapped his friend’s cheeks. “M… Mitsuki… H-hey… Can you hear me? Answer me…” His voice broke. “Please…?”

But no reaction came from the boy, his eyes remained shut as the trail of blood running down his mouth and the horrific wounds gave Boruto a twist in the stomach… not even when Momoshiki and Kinshiki attacked the village had he seen this much blood at the same time…

Trying to hold back whatever was trying to make its way up his throat, Boruto keep shaking his friend gently. “Come on… M-Mitsuki… say something…”

Sarada was growing desperate… Why couldn’t she hear anything…? Her hand grabbed Mitsuki’s clothing as she felt a coldness spreading through her body. He… couldn’t be… right…?

A slow, dull thump reached her ears then, and her eyes went wide.

“He’s with us…” she whispered, straightening up and once again taking in the terrifying sight of her friend. “Why did this happen to him…?” she mused, unable to believe this was real, and her hand balled into a fist once again as she made a quick calculation in her head. Then she looked at Boruto.

“Boruto, hold him as still as you can.” she said firmly, and the blond only then realized that he was shaking - badly. As he tried to get a hold of himself, Sarada completed the hand seals she had learned from her mother, and held her hands over Mitsuki’s body. 

“Kyuukyuu no jutsu (First aid technique),” she whispered, and felt her chakra flowing, raising a dull blue aura around the blue haired boy.

It took a while and although it seemed like forever to Boruto and Sarada, the reaction they so wished happened. Mitsuki, still without opening his eyes, began coughing and gasping for air.

“Thank God,” Boruto mused, so relieved that tears almost fell to his cheeks, but he managed to get a hold of himself. This was not the time. “Mitsuki…” he called to his friend once again as he grabbed the younger boy’s chin and turned his head to him gently.

He very nearly sagged when he saw a flicker of gold.

“B… Boruto…” Mitsuki whispered weakly, and the blond had to lean over a bit. The blue haired boy then turned his head a little. “Sarada…” The girl gave a shaky smile at that as tears brimmed her eyes. “You came…” Mitsuki mumbled, and Boruto saw a lone tear rolling down his cheek.

“Of course we came, you baka, did you really think we would let you go like this?”

Hinata was quick to reach the kids. She came to a halt when they were in sight. After a moment of hesitation, she rushed to them, kneeling by their side… She had not deactivated her byakugan so she could see the boy’s vital points… they were still there, they were weak but they were… 

The blue-haired boy’s eyes turned slowly to her. “Lady Hinata…”

She brought her hand to her mouth, shocked…

“Sorry…” Her heart broke as she watched the boy trying to smile. “Guess… I’m not… in a stellar condition…”

“Cut it with the jokes!” Boruto snapped at his friend, then glanced at the Uchiha. “Sarada… How’s it going?”

He could hear the tears in the girl’s voice as she answered shakily. “There’s so much blood… It just won’t stop!” The girl began shaking a little, trying to pull herself together. “I… I wish mama was here… This doesn’t work, I’m not good at this!”

“It’s… alright… Sarada…” the boy said weakly, and Sarada’s eyes widened, her hands shaking even more. “I… feel better… already…”

Hinata snapped back to herself and put her hands over Sarada’s to let her chakra join the girl’s. The blue aura shone some more. 

Boruto couldn’t take his eyes away from his friend. “You… you idiot… You just hang in there, do you hear me?”

He felt his friend weakly squeezing his hand, and tightened his hold only slightly. “How… how stupid could you be? Why would you do this to us, you damn jerk?! I’ll never forgive you for this! Leaving the village without even saying goodbye… How dare you even think you could leave the village, anyway? Huh? Who gave you the right to do that? We certainly didn’t!”

“Boruto, don’t try to make him speak, he needs his strength…”

“No, y'know what, I’m gonna do just that, let’s hear from him!” the blond snapped, trying to hold back angry tears. It wasn’t just out of the need to let it out that he was doing this, as much as he didn’t want to show it, he was afraid. He was really, terribly afraid that if he didn’t keep talking, he would lose his best friend.

He glanced once more at him, and felt his pulse quickening when he saw Mitsuki’s eyes almost closed. 

“No, no, no!” he cried out, holding his friend’s head, trying to be gentle in his panic. “You’re not fading out on us! Keep your eyes open! Keep your eyes open or I swear I’ll kick your sorry ass to oblivion, do you understand?” His eyes burned as the tears threatened to fall, and he gulped hard to force them back. “Remember our promise!” he yelled, his voice breaking at the end.

Mitsuki blinked once, trying to focus on him. He tried to lift his right hand, reaching for his friend, and Boruto held onto it as if for dear life. “I… remember…” Mitsuki whispered, squeezing his hand ever so lightly.

“Good for you,” the blond said as a lone tear escaped from his eyes. 

…

Naruto was quick to take over the guy he was facing, he had managed to knock down the black haired man. He had heard his son’s and Sarada’s screams earlier but in order to not lose focus, he hadn’t looked in their direction. But now…

He gasped at the horrible sight of Mitsuki badly injured, he could tell that the boy was literally fighting to stay awake… 

“Oh god… Mitsuki!” He made a run to get to them…

…and then Orochimaru leapt in front of him from out of nowhere, drenched in blood and with a very dangerous look on his face. “Don’t…” the sannin began, and his heated voice was more like a hissing then anything. “…you dare approach my son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ON THE NEXT CHAPTER…
> 
> “Where the hell were you when he was being beaten to death then? Why was there only my son out here, fighting these bastards off alone?!”
> 
> “I’m gonna get him the necessary help, and that’s not gonna be from that wretched village which abandoned him in his time of need.”
> 
> “Do you intend for him to die?! If you care so much about him, let him be taken care of properly!!”
> 
> “Don’t you dare give up on us!”
> 
> “Please… please let us save him…”


	10. Race Against Time

CHAPTER 9 - RACE AGAINST TIME

Naruto stopped abruptly. “Orochimaru…” he frowned, it was clear that the serpent man was angry, he had reasons to… “Please… let me take him back to the village, he needs help…!”

“Oh? You noticed that?” a thick layer of venomous sarcasm coated his words as the sannin felt his hatred bubbling beneath the surface. “Where the hell were you when he was being beaten to death then? Why was there only my son out here, fighting these bastards off alone?!”

Naruto didn’t know what to say… Orochimaru was right, he hadn’t been there when Mitsuki was attacked…

The Hokage’s silence only served to prove his point. “I’m gonna get him the necessary help, and that’s not gonna be from that wretched village which abandoned him in his time of need.”

The blond man tried to gulp as he kept staring at Mitsuki, the amount of blood… Through his lifetime, he had seen one too many scenes like this, but seeing a child in this situation… and what had caused this to happen… this was hard to see, and he knew the sannin had more than enough reasons to take his son and leave now, but… He couldn’t - no, he wouldn’t let the boy go to an almost certain death!

“I accept full responsibility of what happened to Mitsuki,” he said, almost in a whisper, his voice too strained. “But blaming won’t help him now! He needs to be taken to a full-fledged hospital which is easier and quicker to reach…”

“I have more than capable disciples who can and will take care of him. We don’t need your charity.”

“Charity?!” His voice now came stronger, urgency and anger filling it. “Do you even know in which hideout Karin is?!” 

“None of your damn business.” 

“It IS my damn business!” the Hokage yelled finally. “Are you out of your mind?! He is dying…!”

“You are NOT going to talk to me like this!” the black haired man yelled, furious as he leaned forward in an attack position. “I am taking my son out of here!”

Boruto couldn’t concentrate on what the conversation was about, because Mitsuki was trying to say something, just couldn’t get it out. But that last sentence did make his head snap up. “What?!” he asked in utter horror. “No! You can’t take him!”

“B-Boruto…” Mitsuki tried to speak but his voice was barely heard. He was too weak. 

At the boy’s words, Orochimaru turned around to face what he for a moment considered was a clone of the Hokage… but taking a better look, the boy was clearly a child, around the age of his own and Orochimaru didn’t need help to figure out that he was the Hokage’s son. “And who is going to stop me…?”

Boruto’s eyes widened when he saw the man turn to glare at him, and even without the blood covering all over him, he could tell that this man was very, very dangerous. He gulped in fear and tried to not break eye contact, and he felt himself grabbing Mitsuki closer. “I…” he began, but his voice got caught in his throat.

But he had to do this, he refused to see his best friend taken away from him to an unknown fate. A determined expression adorned his features and his voice gained volume as he frowned slightly at the older man. “I am.” he said stubbornly. “I can’t let you take him to God knows where.”

There was a very brief pause before Sarada, with an equally determined voice, spoke. “I can’t, either.”

Orochimaru frowned, a venomous look filling his serpent like golden eyes. “And why do brats like you care about what happens to him…?”

“Enough with this!” Naruto growled, feeling his chakra shooting up. “I am going to help the child, whether you like it or not!”

“I would like to see you try…” Orochimaru hissed, turning back to him, the look in his eyes icy and poisonous.

Mitsuki finally found his voice right then. “DAD!” he tried to yell, to make himself heard, but the strain made him cough up more blood, and his vision blurred as he wheezed and slumped into Boruto’s arms again.

That was too much.

“Would you stop being selfish and think about him for a moment?!” Boruto yelled, squeezing his friend’s good hand. “Do you intend for him to die?! If you care so much about him, let him be taken care of properly!!”

“What do you know about what he needs, child…?” the older man practically spat, he had no patience for this brat now.

“…B-because…” The boy was practically glaring at the sannin now, feeling a lump forming in his throat, trying to hold back tears. “Because he is my best friend!”

Orochimaru’s frown deepened… best friend huh…? He had never understood well how those sort of relationships worked… But such a determined look he had only seen in the Hokage…

Without speaking another word, Orochimaru moved quickly and, before Boruto or anyone else could react, he had taken Mitsuki’s bloodied body in his arms. He gave one last glare at the Hokage before he jumped towards the trees and disappeared.

“No!” Boruto shouted and jumped to his feet, but his mother’s voice stopped him. Hinata, thanks to her Byakugan, had been able to decipher where the sannin was headed. “He is heading for Konoha!” she exclaimed, relief coating her tone. “Hurry up, everyone, we shouldn’t lag behind!”

Naruto quickly looked at the two men they had caught and made a snap decision. “Kurama!” he yelled, and the fox appeared beside him.

Kurama had watched from inside the hokage, so he knew exactly what the situation was. He took a quick look around, noticed two bound men, and a few feet away from them… A bloody mass which looked unidentifiable, lying in pieces… 

A fitting end for a ruthless bastard.

“What is it that you need from me?” he asked the hokage.

“Take the prisoners to my office,” Naruto said, nodding to the two men who were still alive. “Tell Shikamaru that I’m personally gonna be there for the interrogations.” 

…

His steps, albeit quick in pace, felt like they grow heavier and heavier as the sannin made the dreaded sprint back to his old village. He didn’t expect to be… so outrageous, not after so many years, so many experiences and so many…

Changes…

His gaze wandered down to the biggest change in his whole existence, as if to check he’s still there, protected in his embrace. Protected… His blood began to boil and signs of regret etched themselves into his golden orbs as he took in Mitsuki’s, his boy’s, already fair skin color getting paler and paler by the second, creating an ugly contrast to the gash on his abdomen and the burn marks across his chest. If only he was there sooner… If only he spent more time with him… Sure, there were the times he sneaked into the village just to check on the boy. Heck, he should give it to him, that Naruto brat was actually a decent person, he did let him see Mitsuki from time to time…

It had not been enough.

Feelings like he never experienced before threatened to overcome him as he looked at his son’s eyes… his eyes. Mitsuki was glancing carefully up at him, and it literally hurt the sannin to see the light slowly fading from his irises. When his boy was little, Orochimaru liked to compare their eyes. His own was more like the cold, imposing gold, while Mitsuki… his eyes were warm and bright, like… the sun. It gave him physical pain, the thought that his sun might go out…

His hold tightened only slightly and a new vigour hastened his pace. He would get him the necessary help. And then… there will be consequences.

He felt a faint grip on the front of his shirt, and through the suddenly very still air, a weak whisper reached his ears. “Dad…”

He immediately looked down. Mitsuki blinked slowly once, trying to maintain his hold as his hands shake. Orochimaru felt his heart skip a beat, but he tried to keep his calm. “Don’t waste your strength. We’re almost at the border.”

The blue haired boy parted his lips slightly once again, and his father had to lean a bit over him to hear him properly. “Please… spare… the village…”

Orochimaru drew back slightly, shocked at the words. “What…?”

“Please… promise…” Mitsuki murmured, the words coming more strained as his breathing hitched. “Not their… fault…”

He had his doubts about that. He wanted to tell him that they were going to pay. They were going to pay dearly for putting his baby boy right in the middle of danger, not even thinking twice. He wanted to say that he would snuff the fire of will from Konoha, just like how they made his sun sink.

Looking into those eyes, though, the words didn’t form. Instead, his fury drowning in the compassion he felt for his child now, he found himself whispering. “I will leave them be. I promise.”

He felt Mitsuki relax in his arms as a very small smile lifted the corners of his lips gently. His next word was so faint that Orochimaru wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the wind. “Thanks…”

Pale fingers slid from the shirt as the young boy completely slacked against his father. The sannin watched, horrified, as the sun set with a sigh of breath.

“Mitsuki…?” he whispered, unable to comprehend what was happening in front of him, and the world came to a standstill. “Mitsuki!!!”

…

When he heard the sannin yelling his boy’s name, Naruto immediately came to a stop, his heart racing, and his head turned to Orochimaru, realizing frantically that… he… couldn’t sense the boy’s chakra… ’No…’ he thought as his heart skipped a beat.

“Don’t stop, he’s holding on!” came Hinata’s voice, urgent as she realized everyone in the group coming to a sudden halt. “We need to hurry!”

Her words were enough of a reassurance and the group sped up again, the gates looming closer… The hokage prayed with all his heart for the child to keep fighting…

He didn’t know whether he felt glad or panicked when he saw a familiar black-haired figure standing right out of the gates. Seeing the hokage, Uchiha Sasuke rushed to him.

“Naruto, what business did you have with my daugh…” Sasuke stopped mid-sentence when he then saw the other people in the group.

“Papa…!” murmured Sarada with her eyes still red from all the crying and panic of seeing Mitsuki dying right in front of her.

“What the hell is going on here Naruto…?” Sasuke carefully asked as he approached his daughter and pulled her closer to him but his eyes never left Orochimaru and… the bloody, unconscious child in his arms, he was so pale that Sasuke didn’t know if he was already dead or not…

“I’ll explain later but first we need to take him to the hospital!” said the blonde with an urgent look, sweat dropping down his face as he too looked at Mitsuki.

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes. “Fine, but you know he…” He looked at Orochimaru again, “…can’t go in the village.”

“If that is your main problem then allow me to solve it.” said the Sannin sarcastically as he managed to adjust his son’s body against his chest before rising two fingers and a smoke surrounded him. Once it disappeared, it revealed his desguise, almost the same one that he had worn when he pretended to be the sensei of the three Sound ninjas, back in the Chunin Exams when Naruto and Sasuke were his son’s age.

Before Orochimaru said anything else, the group found themselves surrounded by a dark wave and in the blink of an eye, they were standing only a few feet from the hospital’s entrance.

The hospital was at full alarm situation, all of the experienced medic teams staying for the shift. Sakura herself didn’t have the night shift today, it was Tsunade’s call, but after Kiba came… she decided to stay too, she had a bad, very bad feeling about this… Her fingernails bit into the skin of her crossed arms as a cool wind blew around them, rising the hair on their arms. A cool wind almost unusual for Konoha’s spring…

They waited out of the hospital, just the three of them, her, Tsunade and Kiba. Each passing second made them grow uneasy, restless… 

And then suddenly, the Inuzuka sniffed the air and went very still, his eyes widening slightly.

“They’re here!” he called to the two women who were standing a little behind him, and without waiting for a reply, he rushed to the entrance of the hospital.

“Bring the stretcher!” Tsunade called to the medics standing just inside the hospital building, and her and Sakura followed Kiba.

Although he knew how bad the situation could be thanks to his strong sense of smell… Nothing could prepare Kiba for what he saw when he met the group. “Holy…” he whispered, staring at the blue haired boy, the terrible wounds all over his small body…

Sakura had to cover her mouth with her hand at the horrific view… the child’s state was… oh god she couldn’t even come up with the words! It was awful… What happened, who could have done this to a child, she wanted to ask… but time was ticking for Mitsuki so she didn’t say anything. 

Tsunade approached the group with two other medics that were bringing the stretcher and almost froze at the view. Sure, she had overcome her fear of blood but this did not mean she was ready to see a CHILD in this horrifying state…

Carefully she took the child from the man’s arms and the cold hands in contact with hers made her shiver… they seemed familiar but the blonde didn’t say a word as she put Mitsuki on the stretcher as carefully as she could, as if he were made of glass. “Take him to the surgery room!”

Orderly chaos ensued as they entered the building, seasoned medics trying to keep their professional demeanor when they saw the situation. Running beside the stretcher, the previous hokage was also doing a quick check-up to see what had happened… And the things she found out sent chills down her spine… 

“I need two chikatsu teams inside, and three medics to help us with the minor wounds,” she said crisply. She had gotten over her initial shock - the emergency of saving a life taking over. Her eyes flickered for a moment to the man who had carried the child here… She knew it was him.

Words weren’t needed between them, she watched as the golden orbs of the man moved only for a moment from the wounded child and looked into her hazel ones.

Tsunade couldn’t say it out loud because of the many people that clearly did not know who he really was but the sadness in Orochimaru’s eyes were so clear that she needed to reassure him… so she moved her lips and simply mouthed the mute words, in hopes he would understand them: ’We’ll save him…’

Sakura ran ahead of the stretcher and led the way to the surgery room but before the doors closed she heard something.

“Mitsuki!!!” yelled the Hokage’s son. “You just hang on, do you hear me? Don’t you dare give up on us! Don’t ever give up! Mitsuki!!!”

As the doors of the surgery hall closed on his face, Boruto came to a dead stop, losing his voice. He just stood there, gaping at the doors behind which his best friend just disappeared, and tears began running down his cheeks. Then he felt two strong arms grab him, and unconsciously snuggled into Naruto’s embrace.

…

“Oh God, that’s a lot of blood…”

“They practically flayed the boy alive…”

“Who could do such a thing…?”

As Mitsuki was connected to a number of machines, Sakura tried her best to tune out the comments of her colleagues. It was already hard for her, seeing the child who was so perfectly healthy the other day, so full of energy and life, broken and badly hurt in front of them…

As the heart machine caught up and the steady beeping filled the hall, Sakura let the calm feeling it brought take over as she approached Tsunade.

“What’s his general condition?” she asked, not quite able to control the trembling of her voice.

“This can go wrong in so many ways in a very short time,” Tsunade said, and although she was a little more composed, she was clearly shaken herself. “We need blood, he had lost about a fourth…” Sakura gasped at that. “And the kid has type zero…”

“Then I can donate him!”

“No… We need you here. I already organized one Chikatsu team for the sword wound on his stomach, but… I need your help with the burns…”

“Burns?!”

“Electric burns… If I have to guess, lightning style. Looking at how they were formed… The poor boy must have been exposed to too much shocks. That, and the ones across his chest… This is gonna be a very difficult surgery.”

“On his… chest…?” Sakura asked weakly.

Tsunade sighed. “I hope whatever kind of monster who caused these burns rot in hell… They are too close to his heart… We are gonna have to be extra careful…”

“Tsunade-sama… Do you think we will…”

“If we get these and his chakra loss under control and his heart stays strong enough, the others are more or less trivial!” Tsunade said, looking at her. “Izumo is already working on his arm, and we can deal with the minor burns and his ribs after we got the hardest part out of the way.”

“Just how much did the poor boy suffer…?” the pink haired medic asked numbly, and her mentor sighed again.

“One thing is for sure… They really intended to kill this child…”

Sakura didn’t know what to say to that.

And then they heard quick, chaotic beeping sounds coming from the heart machine.

“Sakura-san… Tsunade-sama…” one of the medics called out, but Sakura was already hurrying over.

To her astonishment, and shock as well… She found Mitsuki with his eyes slightly open, trying to move around on the stretcher, but his movements were weak. And then he crumpled his face… 

…in pain, Sakura realized in horror.

“The drugs?” she asked sharply, looking up at the medic who was in charge of that.

“Half a minute until they take effect…” the man replied feebly - they didn’t expect this to happen.

An immense feeling of mercy overpowered Sakura as she kept looking at Mitsuki…

…

He didn’t know where he was…

Wasn’t he supposed to be dead already? He was so sure of it when darkness took him in his father’s arms… 

Yet death shouldn’t be so painful, right?

His chest hurt so much that it felt like someone had lit it on fire… And the constant, annoying metalic sound echoing in his head was not helping, if not scaring him even more…

Why was this happening…?

He felt someone grabbing his hand gently when he tried to bring it to his chest. He opened his eyes just barely enough to see a beautiful, pink haired woman looking down from a haze of light at him, an eternal look of mercy on her face.

Was she… an angel…?

“Sssh, Mitsuki, it’s okay baby, it’s gonna be alright…” The woman’s voice echoed, and for some reason, the boy felt himself trusting her, just like that. “Stay with us now, baby, we’re gonna patch you up and everything will work out…”

Mitsuki blinked slowly, and hoped that she would get his message… That he trusted her…

“Now count down from ten for me, can you do this?”

The boy blinked again, slower. He heard the angel started to murmur a soft melody, something he remembered from a long time ago… Something a mother might have been singing to her baby…

“Little child, be not afraid,  
The rain pounds harsh against the glass  
Like an unwanted stranger,  
There is no danger,  
I am here tonight…”

Mitsuki felt waves of calmness engulf him and pain completely ebbed away as he thought of a mother he never had…

…

“Little child, be not afraid,  
The storm clouds mask a beloved moon,  
And its candle light beams  
Still keep pleasant dreams,   
I am here tonight…”

Sakura tried to hold back her sobs as the beeping sounds calmed down and Mitsuki relaxed, his eyes closing as the drugs finally took effect.

She leaned over, softly kissing the boy on the forehead, sending a silent prayer as she did so.

’Please… please let us save him…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ON THE NEXT CHAPTER…
> 
> “If the boy survives this… it will be a miracle if he doesn’t get a heart condition after all the lightning shocks his body went through…”
> 
> “Be glad that my son tried to protect your worthless lives even when barely clinging to life, because if I had not promised him… We wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
> 
> “I guarantee you, if it was indeed me behind the attack, I wouldn’t go into hiding like some coward.”
> 
> “Thank you… for being my friends…”
> 
> “No! NO! LET ME GO, I NEED TO BE WITH HIM!!”


	11. Hardest Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The italic scenes represent some sort of limbo while the bold italic are some small memories that Orochimaru has of his past

CHAPTER 10 - HARDEST BATTLE

It was a cold night. Hanabi caressed Himawari's hair as she looked out of the darkened window. The temperature had suddenly dropped, the warm spring of Konoha suddenly turning into a fall-like chill. It was unusual.

Noticing that her niece was shaking, she drew the blanket a little more over her, leaning forward a little to kiss her on the forehead. "Sleep tight, sweetie," she whispered, a soft smile adorning her features. "Auntie is right here."

Then there was a soft knock on the front door. Startled, the young woman quickly jumped from where she sat and rushed to the door.

She was surprised to see her older sister.

"Onee-sama?" she asked, turning on the light.

She was even more surprised to see her in tears.

"Where is Himawari?" Hinata asked, almost breathless.

"Sleeping," Hanabi answered, of course she would be, it was already past midnight. "What's going on...?" she called after the elder as she rushed inside.

By the time she returned to the room, Hinata was already leaning over her daughter, kissing her gently. The younger just watched in silence as she continued cuddling the six year old.

"Onee-sama... Is something wrong?"

"I just wanted to know... make sure she was okay..."

"Well of course she is okay, what could've happened?"

At that, Hinata actually burst into tears. 

"Onee-sama!" exclaimed Hanabi, now seriously worried. "Oh goodness, have a seat, I'll make you some tea..."

"I can't really stay too long... I have to go back to the hospital..."

That made Hanabi do a double take. "H... hospital?"

"Oh... Oh my God, Hanabi..."

This time, Hanabi led her sobbing sister to the living room and they sat on the sofa. "Tell me what's going on..." she whispered.

"Oh God... I can't shake the image out of my mind... When we find him... The poor boy..."

Hanabi felt her heart almost coming to a stop. "B... Boruto...?" she asked, breathless.

"What...?" Hinata yelped, terrified by the idea. "No... no, thank God... I... I'm talking about Mitsuki... He was attacked out of the village..."

"What?!" the younger woman gasped. "W... why?"

"I don't know... He was just taken to surgery a couple of minutes ago... God, he is barely holding on, I don't even know..."

"But why? Who would attack him...?"

"Rogue ninjas, as it seems. He barely managed to send a message and we were too late..." Hinata shook her head as she got up. "I really need to go now... Boruto needs me."

Hanabi didn't know what to say as she watched her walking away.

'How am I going to tell this to Konohamaru...?' she thought numbly as regret began eating at her...

...

He had a bad feeling about this.

He had just barely seen Kurama bringing in two men before a call came from the hospital, stating that 0 type blood was needed immediately. So, curious as he was, he had rushed to the hospital.

To put it mildly, there was total chaos going on. It took Kakashi a while to finally stop a nurse.

"I came for the blood donation..."

"Oh," a relieved look came over the nurse's face. "0 type, right? Please, follow me."

She brought him to a small room. Kakashi was too wired up to sit still. "What's the situation?" he asked as the needle pierced his skin.

"The Hokage will come here to inform you in a second." the nurse said simply.

Indeed, as soon as the nurse finished and rushed out with the blood bag, Naruto walked in. "I'm so glad you could come..."

"What's going on, Naruto? I came as quickly as I can..."

"Just in time, too. The surgery had only begun a few minutes ago, we needed immediate response..."

"Naruto." Kakashi cut in seriously. "What happened?"

A sad, sad look came over the Hokage's eyes, and he looked down for a moment. "Mitsuki... He was attacked out of the border..."

"What?!" Kakashi asked, shocked. "But how... when..." he didn't know how to continue, that was such a sudden turn of events.

"He sent a stress message to me when I was explaining his decision to Boruto and Sarada... when we reached him... it was too late. Which... is another thing I wanted to talk to you about in private." The former student looked into the jounin's eyes. "I granted Orochimaru permission to come into the village. In fact... He's in the hospital, under disguise, right at this moment."

The older man's eyes widened for a moment. "Naruto..." he began.

"Please, save the lecture for later, I'm perfectly aware of the dangers." the blond said gravely. "But he was already there fighting the bastards when we arrived and each second counted, so I couldn't deny him entry, or much worse could've happened..."

The white haired man thought about it for a moment, then sighed and nodded. "How is the kid?"

Naruto sighed too. "No word is out yet. But Kakashi-sensei, when we found him, he was..." he trailed off, not being able to finish his sentence. "I just pray he will make it through... He is too young..."

"For all of our sakes... all we can do is pray."

...

For the last fifteen minutes, she had been twirling her phone in her hands. She heaved a heavy sigh, and then pushed a button.

A knock brought her from her thoughts. Dreading another set of bad news, she walked towards the door.

She had only barely seen the unruly dark brown hair before Konohamaru's lips met with hers.

Always... Each and every time before when they kissed, Hanabi had always felt like she could forget anything... Everything would feel so simple, so trivial, like she had been taken to another plane, to heaven even...

But now she could only feel the heaviness in her heart keeping her down on earth, and she felt her eyes tear up from the gravity of what she had to do next...

It felt like eternity until Konohamaru finally broke up, the look in his eyes fond and joyful - so much so that it broke her heart even more.

"Konoham..." she began, but in a minute, her lover had his hands clasped over her mouth to stop her from speaking.

"Just listen to me first before saying anything, okay, Hana? I know I should've come sooner but I was too much of a fool and honestly, I SHOULD know better than to wait and listen to Mitsuki's advice for this, and goodness, I know I'm rambling but who cares..." He didn't notice her eyes widening at the mention of the boy's name, too caught up. "I need you to know... I'm sorry for being a total jerk to you in the meeting, I should know that you had to put your clan's interest first, and... Hana?"

She couldn't take it anymore. She brought her hand to her mouth, started crying. "Oh God..."

"Oh no... P... please don't cry..." Konohamaru said weakly, suddenly helpless. Had he broken her heart this much? "I... I'm really sorry, I know it was a stupid fight..."

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Hanabi mumbled, not knowing how to say what she needed to say.

"What? Don't be sorry, I was the one..."

"Mitsuki is in the hospital." the Hyuga said, effectively cutting into his rant.

Konohamaru came to a dead stop. He tried to open his mouth to say something... Only, he couldn't. He couldn't even react, frozen on the spot after what he had just heard.

"He... Onee-sama said he was attacked out of the village, and they took him to surgery... I... I'm really sorry, Konohamaru..."

Before she could really finish, the young man had taken off, running as fast as he could, faster than he ever did, to the direction of the hospital...

"I'm so sorry..." the young woman whispered to herself, leaning heavily on the door sill...

...

He burst through the doors like a storm, scaring the living out of the staff. He didn't know, couldn't notice if there was anyone familiar among them.

"M... Mitsuki..." he said, breathless.

A sad look came over their faces. "He is in the surgery hall number one. You are his sensei, am I right?"

He couldn't speak, just nodded. "W... Where?"

And after they pointed the way, he sprinted off again, not another word.

He didn't expect there to be so many people. His eyes widened - how bad could it be...? He noticed a black haired man that he was sure he didn't know.

"Sensei...?" he heard a small voice then, and two small, warm presences collided to his sides, arms hugging him around the waist.

Even Boruto and Sarada were there... Looking at their tear-stricken faces, Konohamaru felt his heart clench - how much had they seen?

He knelt down to their level and hold them both tightly, rubbing their heads as he felt their tears dampening his outfit. He gulped, trying to control his own emotions for the sake of the children. "It's gonna be okay..." he whispered, though as he didn't know the entire scope, he was just sweet-talking. "He is gonna make it through as long as we stay together..." He hoped so with all his heart.

Rising his head up, he met eyes with Naruto. He grabbed the children tighter one more time and then drew back slightly, looking at them.

"I need to have a word with the Hokage. I'm gonna be back by your side soon."

They nodded silently and freed themselves from his grasp. The jounin got up and approached the blond.

"How bad is it?" he asked, a tremor in his voice. "Hanabi told me that he was attacked..."

Naruto took a deep breath as he painfully explained to the jonin what little information they knew. With each of his words, the brunette's expression darkened, his mouth became a thin line.

"Were they Konoha ninjas?" he asked in the end, his voice low and tight, clearly angry. 

There was a deafening silence for a moment as all of the adults' heads turned to them. "No," Naruto said immediately, the look in his eyes suddenly wary. "They were rogue ninjas, but we don't know where they came from yet."

"Excuse me," a new voice joined their conversation, and the jounin's eyes locked on the black haired man that suddenly appeared behind the blond with a dangerous expression on his face. "Konoha ninjas? Why would they attack one of their own?" He couldn't be sure, but it sounded like there was a hint of sarcasm in the man's voice.

"Who are you?" Konohamaru asked, eyeing the only man there he didn't know of cautiously.

"Who are you?" the man immediately snapped back, his eyes holding discontent.

"I am his sensei." the man said, level-headed but still cautious.

"Well, I am..."

"This is Katsuo." Naruto immediately made up, his mind wheels reeling. "I was planning on assigning him as a tutor to Mitsuki. He was there when we found him."

Konohamaru gave the man a once over, wondering why the Hokage never mentioned of him before, but deciding not to elaborate on it. No more words were spoken as all of them turned to face the surgery hall once again.

...

There was no news. Simple as that. 

It has been hours now and there was still nothing about Mitsuki's state and how the surgery was going. There had already been an exchange between the medics and they all looked exhausted, it was clear to the adults that the situation wasn't good...

Naruto was trying to control himself from pacing around the halls, it would only put the kids nervous, and right now they were calm, smiling softly at something they were watching on Boruto's phone, they did not need to have a nervous crisis because of him. So instead of pacing, he sighed... again.

He looked sideways at Orochimaru, who... hadn't changed his position much at all since his boy was taken into the hall, standing at the very same spot, not even having moved an inch. His arms were crossed, his fingers tight, so much so that they had left red marks on his arms. His eyes, hard and cold as steel, were glued to the surgery hall's door.

Minutes ticked away, slowly, agonizingly turning into another half an hour...

'Please...' Naruto thought, closing his eyes for a minute. 'Please help him... Please let this turn out alright...'

The doors of the hall opened and everyone's eyes turned to it but no sight of Mitsuki in his bed. Instead who came out was one of the medics. He didn't look exhausted but he seemed close to it, so Naruto guessed it was another shift. But instead, the medic stopped close to him before bowing.

"Lord Hokage..." he started.

His heart skipped a beat and he tried his hardest to not think of all the things that could have gone wrong. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Hinata and Kiba moving a little closer to the kids, while Sasuke, Konohamaru and Kakashi moved closer to him and the medic. The hokage gulped once, and although keeping the calm tone to it, his whisper came out a little strained. "How is he holding up?"

The medic sighed through the mask. "He lost a lot of blood but thanks to the donation he is stable. The surgery is still going but it's very complicated. His heart was damaged by the lightning, I'm afraid that will leave a scar but..." He stopped for a moment before he continued. "...but that will be the least of his problems if he... if he survives..."

'If...?' The hollow word echoed in the man's mind,leaving behind horror and a terrible sadness... He slowly raised his hand to grab the front of his jacket, where his heart is. It felt like he couldn't hold it in place... "What... what do you mean, the least of his problems...?"

"Lightning...?" Konohamaru whispered, his eyes widening. "Oh god... That's his..." he had trouble finishing the sentence.

They all turned towards the boy's sensei. "That's what, Konohamaru?" asked Naruto. 

Konohamaru closed his eyes for a moment before shaking his head and opening them back again. "Lightning is the worst that could happen to him. Mitsuki's chakra natures are earth and water, the weakest against lightning."

The medic sighed again before looking back at the Hokage. "Lord Seventh... if the boy survives this... it will be a miracle if he doesn't get a heart condition after all the lightning shocks his body went through... and considering what Konohamaru-san just said... his heart might become really weak."

The silence the medic's words left behind was... deafening. A lump had formed in his throat, and trying to gulp it down, Naruto felt a lone tear making its way down his cheek.

"Excuse me... I need to go back."

"Thank you..." he managed to whisper. Please... please bring the child back to us, safe and sound, he wanted to add... But words simply didn't form...

"He wouldn't just disregard this and fight them..." he heard Konohamaru whispering once again. "I have no doubt about it. He..." The young man's hands balled into fists. "He was attacked..."

"I still don't understand..." whispered Naruto as he looked down. "Why would they attack a child, specifically him...? Something is not right..."

"You said that he sent a stress message to you?" Kakashi intervened.

"Yes..." Something then clicked on the Hokage's mind, and he turned to look at his former sensei. "You think he heard something he shouldn't and had to defend himself when he was attacked?"

"Well, that's my best guess. That, or he tried to turn back and warn the guards, and that's when those ninjas found him." The older man's tone was disgusted. "It's something we will know once the interrogations are over."

"Heartless cowards," Konohamaru growled, so mad that he was shaking. "So they thought it was easier to go all out against a child... Didn't even have the courage to face stronger ninjas..."

Silence once again reigned over them as they returned to their torturous wait. Sasuke glanced over his friend for a brief second, then walked over to him.

"Naruto..." he said silently, apparently only for him to hear. "Maybe it's not the time for this but... We should also think about the possibility that the boy could have some connection with those ninjas."

The Hokage's head immediately snapped to him, a confused look on his expression. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean. Maybe this was not a coincidental attack."

Naruto's eyes hardened, so much so that they looked like two dark storm clouds. "You are right. This is not the time, nor the place."

"We can't just disregard this. For just one time, use your head. With Orochimaru here..."

"That's enough." the blond cut in, and his tone was so sharp and unrelenting that Sasuke had to close his mouth, only with a slight frown on his face. "There is a child in there, the same age as our children, fighting for his life. Put your heart in it for once, and just pray."

They didn't say anything more to each other after that. Naruto glanced once again at the sannin, who had not moved, at all. Realizing that he had to tell him about what they had learned, the Hokage took a deep breath, gathering his courage, and approached the older man, Sasuke behind him.

"Don't waste your breath." the man practically spat out of his teeth. "I heard all of it."

"Orochimaru..." Naruto tried to begin, but he was cut into yet again. 

"So you all think that my son is somehow related to those ninjas?" the man continued, and the blond had to gulp, not knowing what to say. "Be glad... be glad that my son tried to protect your worthless lives even when barely clinging to life, because if I had not promised him... We wouldn't be having this conversation."

The Hokage closed his mouth in a tight line when those words left the sannin's mouth. He didn't know what promise Orochimaru had made to his son but he was clearly holding on to it... "What... promise?" he dared to ask.

"A promise not to crush the village. He seemed to think this was not your fault... Although I fail to see why." The sannin's voice was almost emotionless until this point, but a hint of dangerous threat etched its way to his tone as he next spoke. "Just know this... My promise is only ever valid if Mitsuki makes it out of here... So you better start praying that he keeps holding on..." he finished in a low, venomous hiss, his eyes moving to Sasuke for a fraction of a second.

Naruto felt another lump in his throat but didn't look away... Instead he looked into the sannin's cold eyes. "That's not the only reason why I'm praying."

The sannin just kept glaring at him with those icy eyes, not impressed. After a moment of assessing the hokage, he finally spoke again. "Tell me one thing. Why... was his sensei under the impression that it could have been Konoha ninjas who attacked Mitsuki?"

Naruto didn't know what to say... the situation was already bad enough as it was, with Orochimaru threatening to end Konoha if Mitsuki didn't survive... What would he do when he found out about the harassments...? 

But... he couldn't hide it either... better tell the truth.

Sighing, he looked down. "Three days ago... there was an attack in Konoha's orphanage. Everything pointed that it had been you behind the attack and... Mitsuki suffered the consequences of that. Because he is your child..."

And just like that, Orochimaru felt his careful control slipping, albeit only a little, and managed to control the shaking of his hands, of anger. "So that was your idea of peace...? I thought Konoha had become a better place... Yet my son had to suffer the aftermath of an attack - which I have not even heard of, mind you." He was silent for a moment, and then squinted. "What kind of consequences?" he demanded, a dangerous tone audible in his whisper.

This caught Naruto's attention. He knew that the Sannin, from years of experience, would praise an attack if he had been the one behind it but... that wasn't the case now. "You mean you weren't behind the attack...?"

"I guarantee you, if it was indeed me behind the attack, I wouldn't go into hiding like some coward," he hissed through his teeth. "I always play my cards on the table, if you didn't notice just a moment ago. What motive did I have to attack your village?" A venomous glint came into his eyes as he asked once again. "What kind of consequences?"

Naruto gulped... No... he couldn't just go and say that the clans were the ones behind the harassments against Mitsuki, not when he was dealing with Orochimaru. "Children... that's all... they played some... pranks against Mitsuki."

"Do you think... even for a minute... that I believe my son is driven out of the village because of some childish pranks...?" His anger and hatred were brewing deep down. He hated being lied to - especially when he was doing the exact opposite. "Tell me the truth."

What could he do... Orochimaru was clearly losing his patience. But he was the Hokage and although the clans were at fault, he couldn't expose them like that "I..." he started.

"The clans did it. They ordered harassments to be held against your son." A new voice joined the conversation and although Orochimaru just moved his eyes, Naruto turned his head completely in Sasuke's direction. 

"Sasuke...!" Naruto hissed, low.

The Uchiha eyed his friend with his usual calm look. "Those people are grown-ups, Naruto. They knew clearly what they were doing. If they have courage to do that then they also should have the guts to deal with the consequences."

"Oh, there will be consequences, you can be sure of that. If Mitsuki doesn't survive... the clans won't survive to see another day. I guarantee you will suffer for all eternity." He silently added, 'like I do now...' in his head, his mouth a thin, straight line.

"The matter is already being taken care of..." said Naruto. "The clans are not going unpunished for what they did, I assure you of that." The Hokage then sighed, the matter from before suddenly returned to his mind. "I still don't understand...why they should attack him... Kakashi-sensei theorizes that he might've heard something..."

"He wouldn't let those bastards discover him!" He had taught the child better than that... "But in any case, he shouldn't be there alone." His gaze once again drifted to the doors of the surgery hall. "Especially not tonight..."

The last part did catch both Naruto's and Sasuke's attention. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes as he eyed the sannin carefully. "What do you mean by 'especially not tonight'...?"

"Ever since he was little... I noticed the moon had a powerful effect on Mitsuki." the older man began. "On the nights with full moon, he is always full of energy, there were nights he would just stay up, training or doing other things that would normally wear people down. On new moon though... He became so weak, sometimes even to the point of falling sick." He jerked his head to the window that was not too far from them. "What do you think tonight is?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he recalled that in that night, before Mitsuki had come to say goodbye, he had casually looked up at the night sky and noticed there was no moon. "Oh no..." he murmured.

Sasuke was surprised for a moment but was quick to recover. "I see... does that influence his chances of survival as well...?"

At Sasuke's question, the sannin didn't bother to say anything, his only answer was the closing of his eyes and his fists tightening a little more. As the two stayed silent, it was clear that their talk is over. He had nothing more to say, anyway. He was already going through a plan to crush all those meddling clans...

The deep silence was killing Naruto, pretty much all that could be heard in that hall right now was the sound coming from the video that Boruto and Sarada were watching on the cellphone. Sighing, the blond looked at Orochimaru before asking. "How...far does the moon affect Mitsuki..?"

The sannin sighed. "The child is affected by the full cycle of the moon, as per say. When it's nearing the full moon, he is energetic, lively, he would be hard to handle. The waning moon has the opposite effect. He mostly spent all his night in his room, sometimes not even going out of the bed. I remember during one cycle he got even really ill, Karin had to stay up all night..." Not a random choice for name at all, he thought, his thoughts far away...

If what Orochimaru was saying was the full truth then Mitsuki was extremely vulnerable and weak when he fought the ninjas... had he known that it was new moon? Had he known he was weak at that very moment? Naruto wanted answers... badly... "I have never heard of such thing before... I wonder why it affects him."

A humorless, cold smile came to his face. He glanced for a short while to the window again, before turning his gaze back to the door of the hall. Who would've thought, indeed... "Anyone can be given a second chance," he said simply. If only they know the full truth... But no, this was not their concern. It was nobody's concern.

Orochimaru was and always will be a full mystery that Naruto would never understand... even his current words had left him more confused than ever but... he did not dare to ask for the meaning of it because he was sure... that if Orochimaru wanted them to know, he would have.

...

It was hard, but Boruto managed to pry his eyes away from the smiling, close-up faces of his team on his phone, and looked up at the surgery hall's door, worried out of his mind.

"Why doesn't anyone still say anything?" Sarada asked in a shaky voice for the both of them.

Hinata tightened her arms a little more around the two. "It's a long surgery, dear... I'm sure that they will give us an update as soon as they can." said the older woman as her white-lilac eyes moved to the surgery hall doors. She sighed... She was so worried for the boy, but also worried for the children right next to her... How would they react if things went wrong...?

No... she couldn't think like that.

She met Kiba's eyes for a second, and saw the same worries reflected in his obsidian eyes. Kiba sighed inaudibly then, and leaned a bit over Boruto. "You have to trust him, to believe he would make it through." he said in what he hoped was a calming tone, then playfully punched the boy's arm. "Come on. Why don't you show us more pictures?"

Boruto smiled a bit at his uncle before turning back to face his phone, he slid his finger across the screen to the next picture but actually found a video. At the beginning he couldn't remember well what that video was about but as the scenes started going, his smile widened, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"Isn't there... safer ways to go on ice?" came a voice, and by the closeness of it, it was clear that the speaking person was the one who was holding the camera.

"Oh come on, you telling me you're chickening out?" a figure suddenly skated into the frame, and they were all looking into the widely-grinning face of Boruto.

"If you consider making sure I don't break a leg, an arm or even lose my teeth, chickening out... then so be it." replied the voice to which the Boruto in the video rolled his eyes before moving a bit away from the camera.

"Aw fine. At least make sure you got everything on record, because I'm planning to use my amazing skating skills to..."

WHAM!

Not exactly looking at where he was going while boosting, Boruto had skated, turned around in a what was supposed to be a graceful twist... and had slammed right into a huge trunk of a tree.

Needless to be said that Mitsuki's laugh soon echoed through the whole video sound and it was clear that he was trying to calm himself down as the camera moved closer to Boruto and he tried to speak in between laughs. "Are you okay?"

"It's not funny," the pout Boruto pulled off was so... cute and funny that in a moment, more laughter could be heard, while those who were watching the video just smiled brokenly. "Delete this, will you?"

"Oooh no," Mitsuki said with a chuckle. "This, I'm definitely keeping."

"No, come on man!" All that the camera was filming right now was the greyish winter sky, meaning that Mitsuki must have raised it really high so Boruto couldn't reach it "Give it back, Mitsuki!"

"Nope," that was all that he got for an answer.

As the only sounds after that were heard, which were the two boys horsing around and finally falling back on the ice, the video came to an end. Boruto was now gazing at the screen with slightly teary eyes, a small, fond smile on his face. 

"I never thought I would be glad he kept this..." he mused, then gulped. He had forgotten about the video altogether...

Hinata wrapped her arms around her little boy and pulled him closer to her chest as she caressed softly his blond hair. Her face resting against the top of his head. Naruto watched the whole scene with sorrow in his eyes...

...

It had felt like ages...

When he finally heard the doors of the surgery hall open and a general shuffling as everyone gathered, Boruto practically jumped to his feet, and the phone slid from his fingers, hitting the ground with a thud.

Slowly, the stretcher on which his best friend was lying was pushed out, followed by the nurses and medics and finally Sakura and Tsunade, who looked very tired.

It wasn't like the blond could notice anyone but his best friend right then, though.

Mitsuki looked... almost peaceful, his chest rising and falling rhytmically. He could've easily been just sleeping, if not for the fact that his skin was even paler than usual, and he was covered in bandages, everywhere...

His friend never seemed younger to him then he did right now. 

"Please, give us some space." one of the nurses urged, and Boruto noticed pretty much everyone had gathered around the stretcher. The adults drew back slightly, but Boruto and Sarada remained by Mitsuki's side as he was brought to his room.

They watched in silence as the staff connected their friend to some machines, including an oxygen supply and the heart monitor, filling the room with steady rhytms in a second. Sarada brought her hands to her mouth, trying to hold back her sobs.

As Sakura and Tsunade came out after the nurses, the two approached them. "Mom, can we... go inside?" Sarada asked with a tiny voice.

Sakura sighed and thought about it. "Only for a little while," she said finally. "He needs his rest."

Sarada and Boruto quickly nodded as they immediately walked inside the room. In less than a second, they were both by Mitsuki's side, each one on each side. They grabbed his hands and squeezed them a little, not too tight of course...

"Idiot..." mumbled Boruto, biting his lip "...do you have any idea of how much you scared us...?"

Sarada sighed, Boruto was right, but if Mitsuki was hearing them, as some people claimed that while sleeping people can still hear the others on the outside...that sure wouldn't cheer him up. "He is right but...don't listen to him..." She smiled softly. "You're going to be okay now and that's what matters..."

The adults have gathered in front of the room, silently gazing inside, relieved that the kid made it through the surgery even with such serious injuries. Konohamaru felt pride filling his heart, trying to drown the sorrow inside, as he looked at his students. "He is gonna be alright..." he mumbled, more to himself than anyone really.

"He sure is..." Hinata said softly as she hugged Naruto, both of them finding comfort in each other. The hokage remained silent, but it was apparent on his features... that he was grateful for the God to having listened to their prayers.

The Sannin was trying his hardest to keep his emotions at bay as he watched his son fighting for his life. He had always been the fighter, the strongest... His warrior spirit had not failed this time, either. He realized that he was proud... and glad - really glad that the child still carried that stubbornness...

It seemed like they had been there forever, with the adults carefully watching over them, and medics dropping in every now and then to check. The two kids remained at the boy's side, talking to him... in hopes that he would soon wake up and... do something to cheer them all up.

After what felt like an eternity, Boruto noticed a movement out of the corner of his eyes. "Mitsuki...?" he whispered unbelievably, as the blue-haired boy's fingers twitched once again. 

Sarada raised her head and looked at Mitsuki in amazement as his eyelashes fluttered slowly, his eyes opening a crack. Both of the kids gasped then, and a tearful smile made its way on the girl's face. "Mitsuki..." she whispered happily.

It took a while for the blue haired boy to understand his surroundings. Where was he...? what had happened? why did his body felt so... weak and numb? 

But slowly the images of what had happened flashed in his head... the attack, the rogue ninjas... his father's arms... 

Mitsuki closed his eyes back for a moment before opening them again.

"Bo... ruto...?" he whispered. "Sar... Sarada...?" He still couldn't make out the figures in front of him, but the blonde and black hairs seemed unmistakable...

Boruto was so relieved that he actually laughed - it was a broken laugh if anything, but a laugh nonetheless. "That's right, we're right here," he said, hastily wiping at his eyes to prevent the few tears from falling. 

"You are where you truly belong," Sarada mused in a broken voice, giving a gentle squeeze to Mitsuki's hand.

Mitsuki couldn't help but return the smile with an equally broken, weak one. His golden eyes moved slowly to where Boruto was but they looked past him, to the people outside of the room staring at him.

"He is awake," he heard one of them say, though he couldn't make out who.

Konohamaru had moved closer to the glass panel, a huge weight lifted from his heart as he saw his youngest student's eyes turning towards them, and couldn't help but smile himself as the general mood around him lightened with the child's awakening. 

"Well done kiddo... I knew you would make it..." he whispered.

Mitsuki felt his eyes burn slightly... he was happy, so happy... everyone in there was safe and sound... He had done it right... He tried to say something but no words came out. He felt his heart tug.

Something... didn't feel right about this.

He felt his body growing numb and cold with each passing second, so much so that he had begun shaking a little. His heart was thumping loudly in his chest, he could feel each pound... but they were getting slower...

'Was this how it was supposed to be...?' he wondered. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, this time slower.

Somehow... he felt this was just right, and that he... was actually ready.

He gently pulled his hand out of Boruto's, reaching for something that was covering his mouth and nose. He didn't know how much strength he had left... He needed his friends to hear him...

Boruto panicked a bit when he saw his friend reach for the oxygen mask. He couldn't take it off yet! He still needed it! 

The blond was quick to put his hand over Mitsuki's again. "Hey, easy there man. You can't take it off yet..."

Sarada felt something was off, the look in Mitsuki's pale golden eyes was strange... Something wasn't right, they were so sad... so... empty, nothing like the ones she knew.

Mitsuki felt a tremor shaking his body as his heart tried to do its job against all odds, even if for a few prolonged seconds. He slowly tried to raise his other hand but pain shot through it immediately. Seeing that he crumpled his face because of it, Sarada hold on to his hand more tightly.

With the last bit of his strength, Mitsuki gave his friends' hands a weak squeeze. "Thank you..." he whispered, and heard something in that steady noise change. "...for being my friends..."

"What... nonsense are you talking about?" said Boruto, a worried frown crossing his features. "Why are you thanking us?"

Outside of the room, Hinata's eyes widened as she felt something going terribly wrong. Stepping out of her husband's embrace, the woman approached the glass window for a few moments, and then gasped. 

"Naruto..." She looked at him, obviously scared. "Go get Sakura...!"

"Mi... Mitsuki..." Sarada whispered, a mix of emotions replacing her relieved one slowly as she got up from where she sat, watching the boy's chest moving slower - this was definitely not right! 

Her head whipped to the heart monitor as the pace picked up.

Boruto didn't really know what these all meant, but Sarada's reaction gave him chills. "Mitsuki!" he shouted, holding on to his friend's hand, but the blue haired boy had lost his grip. "No, no... stay with us!!" This was more like a scream, and the blond felt himself losing his grip. "Fight it, stay with us!!!"

"Boruto..." Even through all the sounds of the machines and the ringing in his ear as a reminiscent of his yelling, Boruto heard his friend's voice, and his own heart skipped a beat. "I'm sorry..."

Mitsuki's hand slipped from his grasp and fell onto the matress, along with a single tear that made its way down to his cheek, just as the blond watched in horror his chest stopped moving altogether.

An ear-piercing cry filled the room, breaking harshly into the deafening silence.

...

Unconsciously, everyone took a step closer to the glass panel when they heard the voice of Hokage's wife.

"Mitsuki...?" Orochimaru murmured, placing his hands on the panel, his nose almost touching the glass now. What was wrong? Didn't his child waking up mean that it was all good? What could the woman have seen?

His heart tugged as an unwelcome feeling from the past settled in it.

And then they heard the sound... And the time outside of the room came to a stop.

Time... time didn't mean anything...

_**'Do you have to go?' a very young, scared voice asked inside his head.** _

...

Naruto had been about to do as his wife had told him. He himself had felt the boy's chakra suddenly becoming weaker, so he knew something was not right with him, when he heard the machine's high-pitched shriek. 

He froze in his steps as his head quickly turned towards the room, watching both his son and Sarada screaming for their friend.

'No, no, no...! you have to fight it!' This and many other frantic thoughts raced through the Hokage's mind as he stared in disbelief at what was happening...

"Naruto!" his wife's voice woke him from his shock as he remembered what he had to do. 

He ran as fast as he could towards Sakura's office.He didn't even knock, he just abruptly pushed the door open. "Sakura-chan, Granny Tsunade! You have to come now!"

Just the way he entered the room and the pure horror on Naruto's face left no need for further explanation as Sakura and Tsunade both practically ran out of the room, a few of the nurses also at their heels. Tsunade reached for her com to announce code blue and the room number, and Sakura, hearing the shrill cry of the heart machine, upped her pace, practically bursting into the room.

...

_The little, blue-haired child was completely alone in the darkness..._

_Well, that wasn't really accurate. There were people around. People he... remembered somehow. All with their backs on him._

_And he was scared... For some reason, he was scared beyond belief. He opened his mouth to call for them, tried to reach forward... But it seemed like they were too far away..._

_'You are no longer wanted here...' a voice came, and following that, one of the people surrounding him started walking away._

_There were many words, many hurtful phrases ringing around the darkness, and one by one people left, as the child only watched in fear and helplessness... Getting smaller and smaller with each step taken away from him..._

_'Why won't anyone come to your help...?' A tall brunette with a blue scarf walked away, and tears now started to fall from the child's eyes._

_'Outsider!' rang a chorus of voices, as a blond and black haired duo walked away laughing, hand in hand, not taking a glance back. Broken, Mitsuki tried to run after them... but fell._

_He turned to the last person... A tall, black haired man. 'Dad...?' came a very feeble, childish voice._

_'Why don't you hurry up and die already...?' with that, the man was gone, too._

_Now but a toddler, Mitsuki pulled his knees to him, hugging them with his small arms, and cried, cried..._

_After what felt like an eternity, a shadow fell over him. The toddler raised his head, wondering, hoping if anyone had come back for him..._

_His eyes widened with fear as he saw a gruff man with spiky blond hair looming over, looking down at him with a merciless leer._

_Without a heed to the child's crying and whimpering, the man grabbed a fistful of Mitsuki's hair and raised him in the air, laughing loud and cold..._

...

The girl, Sasuke's daughter, got up on the bed, trying to revive his boy, the sannin could see how endless tears rolled down her cheeks one by one, unstoppable, as her whole frame shook. The boy had completely frozen...

_**'Mommy...?' that young voice inside his head asked, an almost hysteric tone to it, and for the briefest of seconds the room disappeared as the man saw two familiar bodies in front of him... A black haired man and a brown haired woman... Lying side by side, apparently dead... Then a small figure with long, black hair approached them. 'Daddy...?'** _

...

Boruto had completely frozen in time the moment his friend's hand slipped out of his own and fell with a silent thud against the mattress. Blue eyes widened in horror, mouth hung open, he even found it difficult to breathe. Sarada was in shock too, but she was quick to snap out of it. She had to do something! Anything!

Pratically climbing on the bed, the Uchiha put both her hands, one on the top of the other, against Mitsuki's chest and pumped it. 

"No, no, no, you're not gonna die on us, you idiot!" Tears were starting to fall from her ebony eyes but the girl just kept on pushing the chest.

But Mitsuki's eyes remained closed and the machine kept it's chilled sound around the room... it wasn't working!

"Mitsuki, come on!" Sarada cried out, and even more tears rolled down her cheeks. She was not going to give up on her friend, she couldn't! "Get your heart beating!" She tried to hold back her sobs, but it was no use. "Please don't leave us!..." Her frame shook with the harsh sobs that were almost tearing her lungs apart, but she kept on pumping. 

"Please..." she begged, trying to tune out that awful sound.

...In that moment, her mother and Tsunade came in running. 

"Get them out of here!" yelled Tsunade as she reached the bed and pushed Boruto out of the way as gently as she could.

Sakura took her daughter in her arms and quickly set her back on the floor. The pink haired woman then moved swiftly to the dying boy and returned to do what her daughter had been doing all along. "Start keeping track of the time!"

Boruto only came to his senses as he felt strong arms grabbing him. 

"No! NO!" he screamed, his eyes still on his friend. "LET ME GO, I NEED TO BE WITH HIM!!" he continued screaming, and actually tried to kick whoever was holding him as he was being taken out of the room. "MITSUKI!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, and started sobbing harshly. 

Then that someone scooped him up and he suddenly found himself snuggled into his father's chest. "Don't look..." Naruto whispered, his voice strained and grave.

Boruto held onto his father's clothes as he started crying his heart out. He never realized Naruto was taking him out until he felt a cool wind ruffling his hair.

Sarada tried to return to her friend's side but as soon as she tried, a strong arm grabbed and scooped her up. She only realized she was being taken when she saw Mitsuki and her mother getting further and further away...

But she didn't have any strenght left... not even to scream the way Boruto had...

...

Not... all was lost, no he wouldn't believe that. There was still Juugo... And even if that plan fails, he could always deliver his son's soul to another, healthy body, maybe even one of those children's bodies if it came to that point...

_**'I just want my parents back...!' the voice, his seven years old voice screamed in his head, tears in his voice... He was... crying...? He gritted his teeth. 'Why did it have to be them?! Why do I have to be alone?! That's not fair!'** _

...

"How many seconds?" Sakura asked, sweat dropping by the side of her cheek.

"Fifteen," a medic answered, quickly looking at her watch.

'Good lord...' Sakura thought, forcing her mind to stay clear.

"Move your hands." she heard Tsunade call, and she used the time to focus her chakra in her hands. She watched as her mentor injected a small portion of adrenaline directly to the boy's heart. 

"Hekirekite no jutsu!" She brought her hands back down on Mitsuki's chest, and the boy's body lifted slightly from the bed.

Sakura mentally cursed as the machine's sound didn't change.

...

_The boy was crying, the pain was too much to bear... Why... why did he have to suffer so...? Shouldn't it be quicker if he just let go, and never look back...?_

_Suddenly, the man's cruel laughter stopped, and his hand released the toddler's hair. Before he could fall, though, he was caught, hold gently and lovingly in a pair of warm arms. He dared to raise his head and look..._

_The angel's light was pushing away all the darkness, all the hateful voices, trying to heal his heart... The pink haired angel smiled fondly at him, her arms tightening around him a little more, her expression so merciful and loving..._

_'It's okay, baby, it's gonna be alright...' she mused, almost cooing. 'Don't be afraid... I'm here...'_

... 

Seeing no changes with the first charge, Tsunade repeated the same move... She had to be careful, the boy had been already too exposed to shocks, hence why his heart had been so weak during the surgery... but they had to bring him back.

"Come on..." Sakura whispered, not taking her eyes from the boy's face, counting as she continued with the compressions. "You can do it, Mitsuki, come on..." she let her chakra flow to his body once again, but the results were the same...

...

_Be not afraid...? How was he supposed to do that...? The little toddler could feel nothing but fear, even with the angel here... None of those people who he cared about was here..._

_They... didn't... care about him..._

_'Why do you fight...?' a sinister voice rang in his ears, blocking the angel's._

_Squeezing his eyes shut, the toddler pushed away from her. He scrambled to his feet quickly and started running, deeper and deeper into the darkness..._

_Then he stumbled onto something and fell forward, landing hard on the ground._

_Cruel laughter echoed all around the black void, and the toddler curled in on himself, sobbing._

_'Outsider! Outsider! Outsider!' the chants echoed repeatedly while the boy kept crying, wishing this to all end..._

...

The minutes passed, excruciatingly slow but also painfully quick... and nothing.

"...Sh... Shall I announce the time..?" The nurse couldn't finish the sentence, a sad look visible in her eyes.

Sakura was distinctly aware that there was some sort of chaos going on inside or outside of the room, but her mind had automatically tuned out any sound other than the machine... 

"Wait... wait just a second..." she mumbled in response to the nurse. She still had her hands on the kid's chest, she couldn't give up... She had to act careful, but she knew just the tiniest amount of shock that might do the difference, and she would never forgive herself if she didn't give it all her best. 

"Sakura-san... It might be too much already..." The nurse warned her.

"Let's just leave the child in peace..." another nurse said, her voice shaky.

Tsunade snapped back to herself and hastily hushed the nurse, staring at Sakura.

Sakura remained in silence as she keep looking at the heart machine, her chakra still flowing through Mitsuki's chest...

'Please...please come back...' Sakura thought...

...

_The toddler wasn't sure how long he stayed there, curled up in the fetus position, crying, hurting..._

_He felt a warm presence approaching... felt someone putting their arms around him, but he lacked the energy, the will to look up..._

_He didn't know anymore..._

...

Outside, a leaf from a nearby tree fell from its place as the clouds dropped their first tears and wetted the floor, little by little...


	12. Lost Hopes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are gonna take a bit of a break from the story. It's both that real life caught up to us and... to be perfectly honest, please don't ever take this personally, but we are discouraged by the scarcity of feedback, it's not just here but also in the other sites we upload (DeviantArt, Tumblr, FF.net...)  
> But we are not abandoning it.

CHAPTER 11 - LOST HOPES

Sarada was counting in her head as her father continued his brisk pace. They were almost out of the hospital building, she could see Boruto in the Hokage's arms in front of them...

"Papa..." she whispered, her voice tight and low with the sobs, tears still sliding down her cheeks. "It's been a minute and a half... P-please, let's just turn back..." Her voice became tinier then. "I need to know..." she couldn't finish her sentence, but still, Sasuke didn't stop.

"Papa..." Sarada said again, becoming almost hysterical. "Please, I-I'm begging you... We need to be with him..."

"Your mother is with him." That was all Sasuke told her as he continued walking away from there.

"No! Papa please!" Sarada squeezed her eyes shut as she kicked her legs, trying to release her body from her father's grip. And then she felt it, fresh and cold air hitting her straight in the face, causing her hair to fly.

Feeling a new source of power from his daughter, and feeling quite confused by this, Sasuke looked up at her, slightly frowning... 

What he saw made his eyes slightly widen. An intricate, complex flowery shape in the place of her irises...

He indeed almost came to a stop... No, this was too early...

Once they reached outside, he put her down but still held her tightly by her shoulder, making sure she didn't run back inside as soon as he let her go.

"Papa please let me go!" yelled the girl.

"Sarada, you need to calm down," he replied in his calm voice, even though he was too worried about what he had seen.

" _How?!_ How can I calm down!? He is in there, he is dying!"

"Your mother and the medics are doing everything they can. Even if you were in there, there is nothing you can do."

"I don't care!" the girl screamed, shaking uncontrollably. "He needs us!"

"There is nothing you can do." the man said once again, firmly. "You will stay right here until there is something new from the inside. It's all up to him now, you being inside or throwing a tantrum is not gonna change the outcome. Calm down."

Boruto was still subconsciously gripping his father's clothes as he cried his heart out, the images of what he had just witnessed wouldn't leave his mind, he didn't think it would disappear so soon... Mitsuki's tear, his hand trying to hold his own, his last words, how his head dropped to a side and his hand slipped away... All of it only made the younger blond grip Naruto's clothes tighter.

He heard all of Sarada's and his master's discussion and he wanted to say something too, agree with his childhood friend, but words weren't forming.

Naruto was holding him tightly, caressing his hair gently, not saying anything. He was holding his careful control in place for both of the kids' sake, to keep his worries and sadness inside, he knew he had to just trust Sakura and Tsunade... And Mitsuki... he would make it... he was a strong boy, he would make it...

"Take it back..." he heard Boruto mumble in between his sobs, he didn't remember the last time his son had a complete break-down like this. "Take it back, take it back... I-I can't... Take these three days back..." The boy's hand gripped his clothes harder as sobs continuously shook through his body.

Naruto stopped caressing his son's blond locks, lighter than his own, and he just stayed there with his hand resting against his head. The Hokage closed his eyes tightly at his son's plea...

"I wish I could... believe me, I would go back if I could..." But he couldn't, and the harsh, cold reality was right there before his eyes... Mitsuki was dying and Naruto could only pray that he would make it.

It hurt... it hurt him so badly, not just to see a child's life slip away like this but a child that he knew, that was close and important to his son, a child that just a few days ago was alive and well... smiling, laughing...

He didn't even know how the boy had taken his words to his heart... How he considered them a second family...

How much didn't he know about Mitsuki...?

"Dad..." Boruto looked up at him. "Please... please go back inside... I can't leave him... I need to be by his side... Please... I promised..." The boy couldn't complete his sentence as he once again snuggled closer to his father, his crying muffled as he buried his face in Naruto's chest.

Naruto returned to caress Boruto's hair, in hopes it would calm him down, like he and Hinata did when he was younger.

"We will go back when your aunt Sakura says it's good okay...?" 

But Boruto just shook his head, he didn't want later, he wanted now...

Naruto glanced at Sasuke and Sarada, she seemed to be rather calm but still crying. He noticed her irises were red... sharingan? No... there was something different... it couldn't be... _'Mangekyou Sharingan...!?'_

Naruto was shocked... she was barely thirteen...!

His mind was reeling... He wanted, needed to ask so much to Sasuke... but this wasn't the time...

"I'm going to come back and take you when your mother says you can see him." The older Uchiha was saying. "I promise..."

Then Sasuke inched his head slightly up, his eyes moving to Naruto. It was clear in his eyes - he needed to be inside... With Orochimaru there, they couldn't afford any mistakes... 

Naruto gulped and nodded to him, telling him silently that this was under his control. As his friend rushed back inside, he approached the girl and kneeled down to her level, hugging her with his free arm.

"Three minutes..." Sarada whispered, snuggling closer. "Lord seventh... why don't they say anything...?"

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and looking at the hospital's entrance where his friend had just disappeared into.

"I wish I knew Sarada... but we can only wait... and pray..."

It had taken a while, but both the children eventually calmed down a little and pushed themselves gently away from the Hokage. They were too restless to stay put, they started pacing around. At least they didn't try to run back to the building...

A soft, calm drop on his nose made the man do a double take and he looked up... just in time to see a small leaf drifting through the air, landing just before his feet. Then tiny drops started to fall as a light rain began.

Naruto's heart skipped a beat...

Boruto stopped abruptly, gazing at the sky, tiny drops landing on his face. "Mitsuki...?" he whispered, so soft that it was almost inaudible.

No... it wasn't... it couldn't be the meaning of _that_... it was just a coincidence, right...? 

Naruto wanted to believe that...but it was so hard considering the situation.

A distant sound echoed through the clouds, the thunders.

Just as a second thunder echoed, Naruto heard paces coming from inside to the outside of the hospital. And he looked up to see a fit of short pink hair. His heart jumped to his throat, and before he knew it, he had met her halfway. 

Sakura looked very worn out, her hands shaking and her eyes brimming with tears as she approached him quickly, not quite meeting his eyes.

_'Please... no...'_ Naruto thought, his breath getting caught as he tried to suppress a sob.

"Sakura-chan..." he said, his voice so weak that it barely even reached his own ears.

Sakura quickly looked towards the kids, who Naruto then realized that haven't followed him, maybe because of how they were still too shocked to move - or comprehend.

Sakura took in a shaky breath, and finally met his eyes as a lone tear slid down from her eye. "It was close..." she whispered, her voice tired and strained. "Very, _very_ close... Oh, god..."

As his friend started crying softly, Naruto felt part of the weight from his heart lift and literally sagged, shedding a tear himself, realizing how grateful he was that he didn't need to explain to his son and Sarada that their best friend couldn't make it.

"Please... tell me that you beat the shit out of the bastards who could do this to a child," Sakura choked out. "He is fighting... He is stubborn, thank god, I will give him that, but... His heart has become so weak, even Tsunade-sama can't tell for sure if he's out of the risk zone yet."

"Is he...?" the blond began, but wasn't sure how to continue it.

"We got his heart beating again, but he drifted into a coma by the time we stabilized him," Sakura said sadly, and heard her friend gasp. "In a way it is better, because he needs the time to get his body to heal itself - we were actually considering about keeping him in a drug-induced coma if everything went smoothly. But now... We don't have any control over when he will wake up." Sakura hesitated for a second before slowly adding. " _If_... he will wake up."

"No..." Naruto mumbled softly, feeling like his heart was breaking into pieces.

His friend put a hand to his arm, and glanced briefly at Boruto and Sarada over his shoulder. "You need to talk to them."

"Leave the hardest part to me, why won't you?" Naruto mumbled brokenly.

A bitter smile, one without any kind of humor, flashed on Sakura's face for the briefest of seconds. "I need to get back in. Try to ease it up to them..."

As the med-nin turned her back to go, the blond tried not to let the heaviness in his heart weigh him down. A coma... A dark, endless stretch of space where they probably had no means to reach Mitsuki... A kid, who was at the very beginning of his life...

How did it all come to this?...

He turned his back, and almost bumped into Boruto, who was running to him, Sarada close behind. Boruto looked at his father with huge eyes, his breathing hitched to the point of hyperventilation.

"Dad...?" he asked in a small, fearful voice that didn't belong to him.

"Is Mitsuki...?" Sarada couldn't finish her sentence.

Naruto gulped once, then looked at them squarely in the eyes. "I'm sorry, but..."

"N...no... _NO_!" Boruto screamed immediately, staggering back a couple of steps, shaking his head fervently as tears streamed freely down his cheeks.

"He didn't... He couldn't..." Sarada choked, as her whole body began shaking with unsupressed sobs.

"He didn't die, he didn't DARE do this to us, he promised!"

"Why couldn't we be there, too? Why didn't we help him?" the young Uchiha mumbled in shock, in a high-pitched, monotonic voice. "It won't happen next time... We won't make the same mistake next time..."

"Boruto... Sarada..." Naruto tried to intervene.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Boruto continued, not even hearing his father. "Just... just wait until he decides to wake up, he is gonna pay for putting us through this! What gave him the right?"

Both Boruto and Sarada came to a stop when they felt the Hokage's hands clasping on their shoulders.

"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered, and the pain in his voice made both of them look up. The hokage's usually bright blue eyes seemed to have taken on a dark and stormy quality as he looked at them, trying to keep it together. Kneeling in front of them, Naruto pulled them in a hug, as Boruto and Sarada kept crying, their mumbling becoming unintelligible through the sobs.

"Mitsuki has been saved." he whispered, drawing them closer and rubbing their heads.

Boruto's eyes widened, and he pulled himself a little away to look at his dad. "He has...?"

Naruto gulped and nodded, trying to chose the right words this time. "He has... But..."

"But...?" Sarada asked, also pulling herself away a little.

"Sakura-chan said that they did everything they could, but... Mitsuki fell into a deep coma... And due to the severity of his wounds, it is unknown when he will wake up..." He paused for a moment, then sighed. "They... they don't even know if he will wake up..."

He felt his son stiffen.

"No... no..." Boruto pushed against Naruto with all his might, and the latter let him go this time. "You're lying! H - he... No..."

With that, Boruto and Sarada sprinted toward the doors.

Everything else was just a blur, the people they passed by turning to look at them, their voices jumbling together...

They ran straight to their friend's room, in front of which many people were gathered. Noone said anything as the two pushed their way through the door. They wouldn't have stopped to listen anyway.

Their steps faltered as they came to the middle of the room.

Mitsuki... was sitting upright on the bed... as he heard them enter, he turned to look towards the doorway, and the confused look on his face turned into a full, heart-warming grin, one that they often see him wearing.

" _Boruto... Sarada..._ " he mused, so softly that they couldn't be sure if it was a trick their senses were playing on them.

As his ears finally picked another quiet, rythmic sound, Boruto made the mistake of blinking. He heard Sarada gasp beside him.

His friend was lying on the bed, and if he didn't know exactly that this was his room, he might have had trouble recognizing him. There were even more bandages, so much so that if Mitsuki was awake, Boruto would have teased him about turning into a mummy. He was also connected to so many machines that the blond couldn't help but think... that the machines did the basic task of surviving for his best friend. And survival... was one thing Konohamaru platoon never failed before.

Sarada brought both her hands to her mouth at the broken sight of her friend as she started reliving the horrors of a few minutes ago. "No..." she whimpered before her legs gave way, and she crumpled to the floor, sobbing hardly as she brought her arms to hug herself, her head hanging low.

Boruto slowly took a couple of steps towards the bed, his eyes huge as he practically drank in Mitsuki's unmoving form, hearing the dull echo of the proof that the younger boy's heart was doing its proper job.

He stopped, now he was right beside the bed.

Surely Mitsuki would hear him? And if he heard him, surely he would respond, too?

He raised his arms slowly, grabbed his friend's arm as gently as he could, and gave him a slight shake.

"H... hey... Mitsuki..." he heard his voice. Or, at least, he assumed it was his voice, though it didn't sound like him at all. "Come on... Stop joking..." he whispered in the same stranger tone, and a shaky, bitter smile made its way to his face. His friend would respond in a way... _right_? "You... you got us... Come on..." His voice broke as a sob shook his frame. "Open your eyes..." he mused, almost pleadingly. "I... I p-promise I won't be mad..."

Just for once...

"Mitsuki...?" he said weakly, hanging on the last threads of hope.

There was no response. Only Sarada's soft crying and the steady beeping reached his ears as he continued to gaze at the blue-haired boy's unmoving form, his closed eyes...

Boruto fell on his knees by the bed, holding onto Mitsuki's hand as if for dear life as he started crying his heart out...

...

Naruto had barely caught up to his son, Boruto could indeed act very quick when he put his mind to it. He came to a staggering stop when he reached the glass panel, watching as his son and Sarada completely broke down by the child who loved them so much, the child who had been a happy, normal child just a couple of days ago...

He put his left arm on the glass, leaning a bit over it and putting his forehead on it as he brought his right hand to his mouth. "Oh god..." he whispered, broken... 

It was not easy... But he had to remember that he had another task. He peeled his eyes away from the room and turned back, carefully avoiding everyone's gaze but Kakashi's.

"I'm going to the office to oversee the interrogations," he declared and felt all eyes turning to him. He knew he wasn't going to be able to rest, not until he at least made sure that those scoundrels who did this to Mitsuki were adequately punished.

Kakashi nodded, without looking away from the room. "I'm coming with you."

The others just remained silent. Naruto met his wife's eyes for a second and saw his whole existence reflecting in those pain-filled eyes...

There was no need for words. Hinata just knew that he wouldn't be back until justice was served.

...

Just as they walked out of the building, the blond immediately spotted a tall, black haired man waiting for them. Orochimaru straightened from where he was leaning against the wall, gazing at them with a cold, insatiable fury.

"I'm coming with you, too."

That made both of the men hesitate for a second. "That... might not be the best idea..." Naruto finally said, regarding the man warily.

"Are you fucking kidding me? That is _MY_ son those low-lifes very nearly killed, I am the one who should be handling them!"

"We don't need man-slaughter now. We need answers..."

"Then I suggest you better be quick with them. Konoha already tested my patience to the limit. I assure you that you will not be spared more of it."

The hokage just looked at him for a minute, trying to negotiate his way around this. "You will not lay a hand on the prisoners."

"As long as they have reason to breathe."

"Not at any time. They will receive the punishment they deserve by law, not by the hand of an individual."

" _Don't_. push. my. limits." the sannin said, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"These are our terms." Kakashi cut in. "You are in Konoha under a different identity, and we won't allow you to blow it and thrust the village in chaos."

"That wouldn't even be close to what you deserve." the older man spat. "But I'm not gonna stand here and waste any more time. Your terms apply - for now."

Naruto gulped inconspiciously and nodded, leading the way as their haste erased the necessity of talk between them.

...

His actions weren't conscious. He was just treading down the same road he used every day, a reknown route to him already, something his mind automatically tracked. 

" _Naruto...?_ " he heard Kurama calling for him inside his head, but he tuned him out for now.

His rage, his unquenchable anger kept his pace brisk and unfaltering.

Images... the kid's voice... They kept replaying in his head...

_'But lord seventh... I consider you family, too...'_

The one last smile Mitsuki gave to him before he walked out...

_'Let me protect my family...'_

The time they found him, covered in blood, fighting to stay alive...

_'Thank you... for everything you did...'_

Boruto and Sarada, screaming for the child to come back...

Naruto burst through the doors of the office building, and once again let his mind took control as he stormed to the interrogation rooms.

He vaguely registered Shikamaru's face.

"We were waiting for... _Naruto??_ " the man exclaimed in shock, seeing the expression on his face.

He was soon followed by a black haired man, that Shikamaru was almost sure he didn't know at all, and Kakashi. It was clear that the Hokage was pissed off as he nearly jumped on one of the ninjas being interrogated, grabbing him by his collar and lifting him up as he pushed him against the wall.

It was only then that Shikamaru snapped out of it and quickly worked his jutsu. "Naruto, calm down!" he shouted, though he couldn't help but wonder... what could have happened to make the hokage this aggravated? Kurama had only said that Mitsuki was attacked out of Konoha - which had been a shock in and on itself...

"Let... me... go... Shikamaru..." Naruto said through gritted teeth. In the background, although no one seemed to notice or pay attention at all, Kakashi had a hand grabbing hold of Orochimaru's clothes. Naruto never took his blue eyes off the man he was holding. "I don't want to take it out on you."

"You losing your head is not gonna get us answers," Shikamaru replied calmly, trying to reason with him. "Let the interrogators deal with it."

Meanwhile, Kakashi was having a hard time trying to hold back Orochimaru, mainly because he himself wanted nothing but to torture those two bastards slowly until they beg for mercy. "You don't want to drop your disguise." he said in a decidedly calm manner, only for the sannin to hear.

"You don't know what I want..." hissed the sannin in a low tone as well, his eyes glimmering with hate and rage. He wanted nothing more but to rip apart those two ninjas inside the interrogation room... just like he had done with their leader... rip them apart... slowly and painfully until they begged and cried for mercy... Make them bleed, just like they had done with his son...

Kakashi's hard look took on a sad, haunting quality. "Don't worry. They are going to get what they deserve."

"Nothing... _nothing_ you will ever do will be what they deserve...!" Orochimaru hissed through gritted teeth and... Kakashi actually felt the loneliness, the fear that was hidden deep, deep inside... Something the sannin would never, ever show...

_'How much did you change... Orochimaru...?'_ he wondered to himself.

"Let me go, Shikamaru!" They heard Naruto once again yell from inside the interrogation room.

"Not until you let him go and calm down!" countered Shikamaru.

"What the HELL did you want from a child, you bastards?!" Naruto yelled to the man's face. "How could you beat a thirteen year old to death?! What the FUCK did you want?!?" His voice ringed in the suddenly very silent room.

After a moment of silence, one of the rogue nins actually spoke. "Did... the child... die...?" he murmured in a hushed voice.

Naruto turned to the source of the voice; Hiraku, with even angrier eyes. "Why do you even care?!"

"It's not our fault that the kid attacked us first! We simply defended ourselves!" said the rogue ninja that was being hung by Naruto's hands. Although unlike Hiraku, there was no hint of sadness or regret for the nearly dead child... There was actually a smirk forming on his face. "The kid only got what he asked for..."

That was the very last straw. Naruto had not realized that Shikamaru dropped the shadow mimic technique, but he did when his fist connected with a satisfying thump to the face of this sorry excuse of a human being. Takeru actually lost his balance and tumbled to the floor, but the hokage grabbed him by his collar and slammed him against the wall hard, fire burning in his eyes. "You bastard..." he hissed, so angry that he was practically shaking. "I dare you to tell one more lie, and I swear _YOU_ will get what you ask for."

The smirk was still there. "Go ahead, kill me." he said. Getting killed would be an easier way than having to face the wrath of the kid's father, who was none other than one of the feared creatures in the planet, if not the most feared.

"Lord Seventh," Ibiki approached him with a serious look. "This is exactly what scum like that wants, do not lower yourself to their level."

"We... were after you."

As the second nin decided to speak once again, all their eyes turned to him. Hiraku was looking directly at the hokage. 

"Excuse me?" Naruto spat, turning his attention to the other man.

"You blabbering idiot!" Takeru hissed angrily, his smirk replaced by a look of disgust.

Hiraku paid no attention to him as he continued to adress Naruto. "Our purpose was to stage an assassination attempt."

"Why? Why didn't you seek me out of the village then?" Naruto's voice rose as he stepped towards Hiraku.

"Takeru is telling the truth. When we were close to the border... That kid stopped us."

"Tch... that little brat ruined our plans and paid the price... that's how the ninja world works, all decisions come with a price."

Ibiki put his hand on Naruto's arm and slowly managed to let the Hokage drop Takeru, only to take his place and grab the rogue ninja by the collar one more time. "Leave this to us."

Naruto was speechless - both from his blinding anger and... because of what he just learned. Between Hiraku's blunt sincerity and Takeru's disgusting remarks, he now had realized that...

What they were telling... might very well be the truth...

He felt a lump forming in his throat... Did Mitsuki really nearly lose his life... to protect him, as well as the village...?

"Make a call to the Yamanaka, we need their help too." he ordered, his mere breath a burning fire in his throat. "And Ibiki... You have my authorization to not hold back... _at all._ "

The older man didn't look at the Hokage but nodded, accepting the orders gladly. Naruto made his way out of the interrogation room, clearly disturbed by the recent news, something that everyone including Kakashi and Orochimaru noticed. With Naruto's leave and the door of the interrogation room closing once again, Kakashi let go of the Sannin's clothes.

...

It was an hour before more news reached them.

The office had become more crowded by the time, Kiba, Sasuke and Konohamaru arriving along with a number of other ninjas who had heard the attack, border guards included.

Even though the office was filled with people, silence reigned supreme, some of them not even being able to look into another's eyes, let alone speaking a word.

Naruto had indeed watched the first half of Hiraku's interrogation - many people, especially Shikamaru and Ibiki urged him not to interfere with Takeru's. He could hear shoutings and a lot of slamming from inside there. He honestly hoped that when he next saw him, that black haired bastard would be within an inch to his worthless life.

Hiraku, on the other hand, had been pretty cooperative, giving easy and efficient answers to the questions. The more he watched him... the more Naruto realized that what he had seen on the man earlier... was indeed regret. He felt like scum for ever hunting the boy... For even, as he confessed, stabbing him with his own sword... He was honest...

But that wasn't enough.

There were still missing pieces of the puzzle, to which the blond man agreed himself, telling them that because of his... weakness, as per say... he was sometimes kept in shadows by his squad members. At this point, Naruto ordered the attending Yamanaka, a young man who was recently made jounin, Ryu, to move on to Takeru.

It was then that those who were at the hospital arrived, and it took the joint strength of three ninjas to stop an agitated Konohamaru from storming into the rooms. He had caught a glimpse of Takeru, though, who in turn... had just smirked and looked away. The brunette had then broken hold of those who were holding him, rushed into the room, and punched the smirk out of his face.

"I'm going to kill you bastards!" he had yelled before Ibiki himself and another bulky jounin threw themselves on him. "You are going to pay dearly for what you did!"

Takeru had wiped the blood trailing down from his mouth, not even fazed a little. "Sheesh, if you were gonna get so wired about this, why didn't anyone come and help the child? It wasn't like we were keeping it down..."

"I swear, keep this attitude and I'll chop you to pieces and feed all the remains to the dogs!" Ibiki had snarled, already having enough of this man.

"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?!" Naruto had cut in. "What are you not telling us?! We didn't hear anything!"

"We didn't move all night," the man said with malicious glee. "You practically left that kid to die."

It had been hard, but finally they managed to get Konohamaru out of there. After giving strict orders to Ryu to get every little piece of information from that... man... The hokage had dragged himself upstairs, too.

A knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts. The door opened to reveal the Yamanaka, who bowed when he entered the room.

"Lord Hokage..." he said, raising his head to meet his eyes. The sad, haunting look etched in them made Naruto do a double take.

"What did you find out?" he asked in a low voice, trying to control his emotions.

"Ex-excuse me for this, but... I would like a moment before I start?"

Words stuck in his throat, all the blond could do was nod. After a couple of minutes and a glass of water, Ryu slowly raised his head again.

"Forgive me, my lord... But what I witnessed..."

"Tell me everything, all the smallest details."

"That child... I never saw another kid like him." the man sighed before closing his eyes and putting two fingers on the bridge of his nose. "Those ninjas spotted him next to the river but didn't attack immediately... They, uh... waited... for his reaction."

" _Reaction?_ To what?" Naruto demanded, eyebrows furrowed.

Ryu just gazed at him, his expression sadder. "They goaded him - talked about how they were planning to kill you and ravage the village - until Mitsuki took the first move. And then they stroke back... That Takeru... he was the first to notice they were fighting a child... Him and Goro - their leader - they decided to keep on the assault... K-kill the child there, so he wouldn't rush back to the village and ruin their plan..."

"God dammit!" Naruto was on his feet again, started pacing back and forth. "Why... _why_ would he do that?! He had to know he couldn't win such a battle!"

Ryu had no answer for that, but after a brief hesitation, the boy's sensei spoke up.

"Because that's Mitsuki... He always cared for and protected those around him, that kid..." his shaky voice trailed off, then he looked at the Yamanaka. "And he probably didn't know the ninjas' elements?"

Ryu nodded, a lump in his throat. "They toyed with him... Only using air and fire elements at first... Takeru and Goro attacked while the red haired man - Hideyoshi - kept shooting arrows in his direction - a sensory type by what I gathered. He and Hiraku, they... tried to help Mitsuki when they saw he was just a child, but Hideyoshi was incapacitated, and Hiraku didn't come in until the last second... Goro used his attack - that lightning based attack he called the lightning blade - after Mitsuki took Takeru down..."

"He did?" Those who were listening were impressed, despite themselves.

"Yes... Actually he took both Hideyoshi and Takeru out, he fought good... But..." he trailed off again, his voice dropping down to a whisper. "They taunted him mercilessly about how he was alone, how noone was there for him... And topped with a technique he couldn't beat..."

"Wait, go back," Naruto said, pinching his nose, trying to keep his voice level. "That bastard hinted at it, too... Why didn't we hear the child?"

"Lord seventh..." Ryu said, and sighed again. "There is this one key element here. Goro and Hiraku were powerful Kumo ninjas, true, but... they weren't the masterminds. Takeru, Hideyoshi and that woman... They were all from the Sound village, and they wanted to make a statement on behalf of their village against the peace treaty."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A collab fanfic between me and my friend (mirage-05), there are illustrations for the chapters of the fanfic that can be found here:  
> http://eleanor-devil.tumblr.com/tagged/sacrifices  
> http://eleanor-devil.deviantart.com/gallery/52397191/Naruto


	13. Pursuing Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teams are made to chase the "survivor" of the attack against Mitsuki...meanwhile Konohamaru and Orochimaru think of some of their most precious memories related to the blue haired boy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upon the release of Mitsuki's one-shot and Boruto's manga, me and my partner have decided to state that Sacrifices and the up-coming stories related to it will NOT be connected to it, if anything turns out similar it is a coincidence as both this and the other fanfics have been thought up before the release of both mangas

There was silence for a long moment.

"The sound?" then came a voice, low, emotionless... unknown to most.

Naruto didn't even realize all the eyes in the room turning towards Orochimaru, his mind fixated on one word. "The woman...?"

"She didn't actively take part in attacking the child, but... She did something much worse." The young Yamanaka paused for a moment, gulped, and continued. "You asked why you couldn't hear the child. She was the reason."

The tension in the room was so dense that it was almost tangible. "Explain." the hokage said simply, his voice suddenly dry.

"Yoshida Suzume, from the Sound's Yoshida clan... A clan who is known by a dangerous kekkei genkai. They form strong sound barriers, and in extreme cases, they can even silence the voice of their opponent."

"You mean...?" Konohamaru was easily putting together the pieces, and his eyes widened slightly.

"Exactly. She trapped Mitsuki in a sound barrier, so no matter how close or loud they were... We couldn't hear him fighting for his life or eventually crying out for help."

The silence was only interrupted by low murmurs - the news was indeed shocking and cruel. Naruto was lost in thought...

He was sure there was no woman when they got there, he had personally made sure there were no other rogue ninjas, and then there was Hinata... But Ryu stood in front of him, telling him that there was a woman who was responsible of them not reaching Mitsuki in time...

"Shikamaru." he said in a clear voice, cutting into the mumblings.

His advisor was right beside him in a second. "I'm listening."

"I want at least three tracker teams to immediately head out to the Sound. Bring that woman at any costs."

"Of course."

Hearing the Hokage's words, half a dozen of the ninja's in the room got to their feet.

"Lord seventh..." Kakashi started, using his formal title. "As one of the best tracking ninjas, I would like a leading role in this mission."

Kiba had also got up. "Me and my dogs have caught their scents before. I would like to be one of the team leaders as well."

Naruto wasn't really surprised when he saw Konohamaru on his feet, too.

"Excuse me lord seventh," the young jounin said, a hardened determination in his eyes. "This is a personal matter for me. I ask your leave to go, too."

He knew there was no arguing the point, if he was in his place, he would've asked for the same. "Form your teams. We don't have a moment to spare."

"Lord Seventh..." That was Ryu. "I can sense that woman's chakra and I've seen her face. If you give permission, I would like to join the trackers, too."

The Hokage thought about it for a moment, then nodded. Ibiki could continue the interrogations, and catching this woman was important. 

The groups were formed relatively quickly, everyone in there wanted to get this done as soon as possible. As they were headed out, Shikamaru approached Naruto.

"We got this under control. Go get some rest..."

The blond laughed, although it lacked humor. "As if I can get rest..." He passed a hand over his eyes. "No... I'm staying over until this matter is resolved... Besides, I need to make an important call."

His advisor said nothing but closed his eyes for a moment and sighed before nodding and walking away.

...

The groups were all formed. He himself lacked the necessary abilities for tracking, but Konohamaru felt that luck was going to be by his side tonight. This was an important matter. He couldn't afford to fail...

As he was re-checking his weapons, he couldn't help it as his thoughts drifted away... 

_[Flashback]_

_The young jounin couldn't help but feel extremely excited as he waited to be called by the Hokage._

_This was it! The day he would finally become a jounin sensei, and have his own genin team to lead to! He was already making loads of plans, training regiments, missions..._

_Well then, of course... He had no idea of why the Hokage called him here after late hours. All of the jounins were given a brief on their teams long ago, his cousin Mirai, who was recently promoted, was assigned to the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, and was very excited about it._

_Adjusting his scarf a bit, the brunette knocked on the door._

_"Come in." came Naruto's immediate reply, so Konohamaru slowly pushed the door open and walked in._

_Looking up from his laptop, Naruto smiled warmly when he saw him. "I was waiting for you."_

_The brunette came to the front of the desk and bowed slightly. "Good evening, Lord Seventh." he greeted him formally._

_"I am sure you are aware of the reason I called you here," Naruto said as he gathered up the files in front of him. "There is only one of the genin teams left... I'm planning to assign you as their sensei..."_

_"Lord Seventh, I will be hon..." Konohamaru had to come to a stop when the blond raised his hand._

_"As this is a delicate situation, I had to call you at this hour. Please keep in mind that whatever you might hear in this office must remain between us."_

_Even more curious now, the younger man just nodded again. Naruto sighed, and put three academy application forms on the desk in front of him._

_Konohamaru approached the desk and smiled openly when he saw the first form. Uzumaki Boruto, the Hokage's eldest child and a trouble-maker in the making, the young blond had been in Konohamaru's radar ever since he was young. He would be nothing less than proud to be the official sensei of the boy._

_Next up was... the female member of the team made the jounin do a double take. Uchiha Sarada, eh...? Well, NOW that was gonna become interesting. It was almost a full circle coming to another turn... the two children of the two best friends - and rivals... The jounin's only worry then was the time when Sarada acquired control over the Sharingan..._

_As his gaze moved to the third form, a slight frown came on to Konohamaru's features. Did... he know that boy...? "Mitsuki...?"_

_The Hokage nodded. "I'm not surprised you didn't recognize him. He came to the village not too long ago... It has been but a few months, really." His words had left the younger even more surprised._

_"A prodigy?"_

_"More like home-trained." There was a pause. "Konohamaru... You are looking at Orochimaru's son."_

_Possibly even a bomb wouldn't have made a more powerful effect._

_"H... you... he is... who?"_

_"The son of Orochimaru." The blond repeated once again, and the brunette had to remind himself to breathe. "The sannin sent us a message months ago, demanding us to take his son as a student. Me and the sixth both agreed... And to protect his identity, which was Orochimaru's only condition, I'm assigning him to the same team as my son - who he also made good friends with. And, shall you accept it, ask you to become their sensei."_

_"Lord Seventh, forgive me for questioning, but... Why me?"_

_The Hokage's gaze softened, half a smile forming on his lips. "Because if I can trust anyone to keep them under control and keep this child safe... that would be you. I remember like yesterday how you accepted me... when I was shunned by everyone else. So... not as your Hokage... but as your friend, I would like to ask you this; will you accept the role as their sensei?"_

_The jounin was lost in thought..._

_Indeed... the day he met the Hokage as a child had put some things into perspective for him. He had learned, first hand... never to blame someone for the fault of the others, no matter how close a relative..._

_How much of a hypocrite would he be now if he went back on his word...?_

_Another moment passed in silence as he finally made up his mind. With a bit of a smile, he shook his head. "Excuse me for the term, Lord Hokage, but this is gonna be one heck of a team."_

_A weight lifting from his heart, Naruto found himself smiling more freely. "I would expect nothing less... Thank you, Konohamaru."_

_[End of Flashback]_

Konohamaru closed his eyes for a moment.

"From that time on... I never regretted becoming your sensei..." he whispered to himself. "Please, kiddo... Hang in there tight while we take care of the bastards who did these to you..."

"Konohamaru-san?"

Ryu peeked in from behind the door. "Yes?" the jounin came to from his trance, turning around to face him.

"We are leaving."

...

No one saw him slipping out of the building. He had enough, dealing with these wretched people.

So the sannin made his way, slowly, to the apartments where he knew his son lived.

A new beginning... just a chance to become more... make friends... that was all Mitsuki ever wanted before coming to Konoha. Much like how he had a second chance...

_[Flashback]_

_As the Taka, all three of them, for a chance, gathered in front of him, the sannin couldn't help but notice the open curiosity in their features - albeit mixed with a little annoyance._

_"Why did he have to call us this early in the morning?"_

_"Shut up, this seems to be important."_

_"Really? Remember the last time he called us for something important and it turned out that just one of the snakes was missing?"_

_"Don't talk like you know anything, you moron, if we didn't catch that thing in time, one of the experiments was going to go really wrong..."_

_"Oh, like you know any better, you ugly bitch!"_

_"You...!"_

_"Will you just shut up and give your full attention?" Orochimaru finally cut in, his tone bored, and silence fell upon the two._

_"I called you here to inform you about something that will change the way things are done here. After years of experiments, I managed to raise a living organism in the lab."_

_The team was so shocked that even Suigetsu and Karin forgot about bickering, gaping at the sannin - at which, he felt the need to explain himself._

_"I mixed my DNA with..." he chose his next words carefully. "...a formidable specimen... to create a fetus, and as opposed to my previous experiments, this is going to survive."_

_Still no reaction from Karin, but Juugo and Suigetsu exchanged a look. Orochimaru sighed in frustration, getting enough of this._

_"I am going to have a son." he put in finally._

_"You... what?" Juugo exclaimed, his eyes widening._

_"You are actually gonna raise a child here?" the white haired man looked simply terrified by the idea._

_Karin, on the other hand... was slightly shaking as she spoke. "We... are... going to have a baby? Am I going to become an aunt?!"_

_The three men were clearly taken aback. "I never said anything like that..." the black haired man said, squinting his eyes, but the young woman wasn't listening._

_"We have so much to plan! Can I see him? I gotta see him! Oooh, I'm just gonna LOVE him so MUCH, I can feel it!"_

_"No, you can't." the snake man snapped, for some reason feeling suddenly... possessive. This was his experiment, for crying out loud! Then he looked at the other men. "Keep her in control, I need silence."_

_He saw another uneasy exchange between the two before he went into his lab and slammed the door shut._

_[End of Flashback]_

It would be simple... so much more effortless if he could just get Karin over to heal Mitsuki. He had no doubts that it would work, she was an Uzumaki after all, vast resource of chakra, and her healing abilities... But even if she begged herself to help his son (which he knew she would), he also knew that in her current situation, neither of his two other disciples would allow it.

Suddenly, a harsh and sharp voice cut into his train of thoughts. "Halt!"

Recognizing the voice, and more out of habit than anything, Orochimaru turned... and looked directly into the eyes of Anko, his former student. From the slight widening of her eyes, the sannin understood that she had managed to see through his disguise... Of course, he would expect nothing less from a disciple.

"What do you want, Anko?"

"What do _I_ want?!" The woman asked incredibly, nothing but pure anger in her eyes. "What the fuck do you think you are doing here?!"

The sannin didn't even bother to reply to her for a moment. "I have neither time nor patience to play. Leave me alone."

"The hell I will!" The woman cried out, leaning forward in an attack position. "Fight me! You are going to pay for attacking Konoha!"

A dangerous glint came into his snake like eyes. "I did not commit the crime all of you are so eager to blame on me." 

"And you expect me to believe it?!"

"Since when did I ever deny something I caused?"

"I hope you came here to take your little snake back!" Anko spit out, out of malice. "It was high time you realize he doesn't belong..."

Before she could complete, Orochimaru appeared in front of her in a flash, lifting her up by the collar and throwing her, hard, into a wall. 

"No." he hissed through gritted teeth, and for a minute, Anko feared for her life. "Thanks to you and your wretched village, Mitsuki might as well forever stay in Konoha!"

Trying to get up, one hand on her throat, the former student gaped at him. "Wh... what?"

"Oh, you're telling me you didn't know?" the sannin's tone dripped of heavy sarcasm.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

The man turned his back on her, sparing only a brief glance at her. "If you value your life, don't try to follow me."

And with that, he was gone.

...

She didn't even wait to see the first tents - this was no time to sleep lightly.

A bright light shone through the night, creating almost a day-like atmosphere, followed by a huge, rippling sound - but this was no explosion. Anyone who knew Yoshida Suzume knew that this was her kind of warning.

"Wake up! Get going! Move! We need to _LEAVE! _"__

__Slowly though at first, people began filing out. Suzume made sure that there wasn't anyone left inside, going into some of the tents herself to drag people out._ _

__"What's going on...?"_ _

__"When did you come back?!"_ _

__"Where are Takeru and Hideyoshi?"_ _

__"They are not coming back! No time to explain! We need to move, NOW!" the woman yelled as she came out with a child in her arms. At once, there were murmurings surrounding the hundreds of people in the area._ _

__"We are not going anywhere until you make some explanations," came a strong, female voice, and a woman with long, orange-colored hair and fierce brown eyes came to the front. She had a young child clinging to her neck, looking around with sleepy eyes, his mahogany colored hair ruffled. "Why do we need to leave? Where are my husband and Takeru?"_ _

__"He was killed!" the woman yelled finally. There were loud gasps. "And Takeru probably met the same end, or captured!"_ _

__"W... what...?" the orange haired woman mumbled, as if in a trance._ _

__"Before we could even start the mission, we were attacked by a child! We had to defend ourselves and silence that kid forever - but if what I saw is anything to go by, he is, in a way, related to Orochimaru!"_ _

__With her words, a silence gradually fell upon the people. Some looked at one another and one expression remained dominant; shock. "You... attacked a child...?" someone asked finally._ _

__"We didn't have any other choice!" the woman snapped. "If we didn't kill that brat, the mission would have failed!"_ _

__"Looks like it already did," another in the crowd said._ _

__"This mission was a mistake from the beginning..." Hideyoshi's wife mumbled. Some of the children had started crying._ _

__"Yeah, so what? What else were we supposed to do?! We all decided on this! Are you deaf - Orochimaru is coming for our heads!"_ _

__"Hideyoshi would never fight a child!" the woman said while she put the child down and walked forward, towards the woman._ _

__"He did!" the other woman practically spat, glaring at the brown eyes. "Who do you think guided us to that child? Who do you think marked his route clearly so we wouldn't miss? Who..."_ _

__SLAP!_ _

__Suzume's head turned to a side, eyes slightly widened._ _

__"You are not gonna insult him in front of me any further." the orange haired woman said in a dangerous whisper._ _

__"There is no point in squabbling over a cast genjutsu," came an older voice then, and an aged woman came forward. Seeing her, Suzume immediately went over to her and knelt in front of her._ _

__"Kotone-sama, please... I swear that was the only logical solution... We were taught to put our mind before our heart and I swear I just abided the Yoshida mantra... I..."_ _

__"That's enough, Suzume." Kotone then raised her head to look at the other woman, who still had her hand in the air, looking at the younger woman with something akin to disgust. "Sasame, you might have ordered the Fuma out of the mission, but might I remind you that the Shiin, the Oberatsu and the Yoshida all agreed? I actually remember your husband being much honored for being called on this mission. You have no ground in lecturing us."_ _

__Sasame gritted her teeth, her gaze drifting from the elder to Suzume._ _

__"If we have to run, let us run," she finally said, her voice tight. "But someone has to remain behind to cover our tracks." Her eyes held no mercy._ _

__"Kotone-sama..." Suzume whispered, looking at her with almost a plea._ _

__The elderly woman thought about it for a moment._ _

__"Even though you obeyed the Yoshida call, my child... Attacking a minor is still not in our book." The black haired woman's eyes widened, but she knew there would be no arguing to the point. "You will be punished... Of course, when you are finished, you will be allowed to rejoin us."_ _

__Suzume bowed her head, gaze on the forest floor. "Yes, Kotone-sama."_ _

__The elder woman then looked back at her clan. "Shall anyone wish to accompany her, I give my permission. Others, make your preparations quick. We are leaving."_ _

__..._ _

__What... were all _these_...?_ _

__The sannin felt his blood boiling as he gazed upon the Hokage's idea of _'childish pranks'_ on his son's door._ _

__To be fair, they weren't big, he had seen much, so much worse during his seventy years of lifetime. But for a village that supposedly prided itself with its peaceful ways..._ _

__They had no idea how this little drop would turn into a huge flood._ _

__His fists clenched a bit more, his teeth gritting as he looked at all of the images one by one, the words written..._ _

__And he had seriously believed that Konoha had changed for a better place._ _

__That was initially why he had decided to send Mitsuki back to his own village - that and his constant nagging. For one time in his life - foolishly, naively - he had believed in the young man who was now the Hokage - and even his own former teammate, Tsunade... He had thought that, as long as Mitsuki's identity was hidden, he would be safe and live the normal life he wanted... deserved all along._ _

__The red paint of the 'fire' stood out, almost mocking his thoughts._ _

__And his boy had still defended them..._ _

__The image of Mitsuki, with all the severe injuries, once again came to his mind, and he closed his eyes for a minute, as if to not see the graffitis._ _

__He would make it his own ambition to make sure Konoha would crumble under the weight of his fury._ _

__His hands were shaking, the urge to kill, to make blood covering the streets rising. To make them pay..._ _

___'Please... spare... the village...'_ _ _

__"Let's see how long I can hold on to that promise, child." Orochimaru murmured through gritted teeth and tried the door. It was locked of course, but it wasn't like that could stop him._ _

__The apartment was dark, cold and empty... Even more so now that it was missing his son._ _

___'Come now, Mitsuki...'_ _ _

__The sudden voice made the sannin do a double take. Where did that just come from?_ _

__'Repeat after me, sweetie... Da-ddy. Dad-dy. D... a... d... d... y...'_ _

__He knew that voice... This was Karin... But how was that even possible - him hearing her voice fro who knows how many years ago...?_ _

___'D... da... da...' came another, childish voice, stuttering over the basic word._ _ _

___'That's right, go on. Daddy... call out for him.'_ _ _

__Where was that voice coming from?!_ _

__He started walking around the darkened house, looking around from room to room, following the childish jabbering._ _

__Just when he entered the bedroom..._ _

__It wasn't enough to say that he was shocked when a small figure, a toddler about a year and a half of age at most, waddled his way towards him, stumbling, losing his balance and almost falling to the ground. After a couple more steps, the toddler started falling forward, but at the last moment managed to grab his legs. Although... he felt no weight._ _

__Then little Mitsuki looked up at him with a big grin, flashing a dozen of pearly-white teeth._ _

___'Da-da!'_ he exclaimed gleefully and in excitement, before he slowly disappeared through thin air._ _

__The sannin closed his eyes for a moment..._ _

___[Flashback]_ _ _

___He was about ready to pull his hair off!_ _ _

___It wasn't working! Something was wrong! At this rate, this experiment would fail, too, like the others before it!_ _ _

___He thought this time he was doing all good - the other 'donor' was more than suitable after all, and during the nine months the fetus was in the tube, there had been nothing wrong - why did it have to go all wrong now?!_ _ _

___In a fit of rage - and without stopping to think what he would cause... the sannin let his fury explode._ _ _

___In less than a minute, the lab was lying in ruins... Broken glass, ruined wiring everywhere... Like a scene that was the aftermath of a battle..._ _ _

___All... was lost after all..._ _ _

___Just then he heard a strong sound, and his world came to a stop for a minute._ _ _

___A crying... a child... Or, more precisely, a new-born bawling his lungs out..._ _ _

___Stunned, it took him another minute to get moving, but finally he moved through the broken tubes, to the one at the end of the left row..._ _ _

___And there he was - the blue haired baby he watched growing for all this time... wailing so loud it was practically grating at his ears... More to just quiet him than anything, Orochimaru took the baby in his arms..._ _ _

___Sniffling a bit, the baby slowly quieted down._ _ _

___[End of Flashback]_ _ _

__Opening his eyes, the sannin sighed before mumbling to himself._ _

__"I should have never allowed you to come here..."_ _

__..._ _

__A soft, orange light shone in the darkened room as a hand reached out to grab the phone that was ringing. A man with copper colored skin and blond hair squinted at the phone's screen while a woman with brown hair half turned to look at him from his side._ _

__"What is it, baby?"_ _

__"Naruto...?" Darui mumbled sleepily and pushed on the screen as he pressed a hand over his face. "You better have a good reason for calling me this early..."_ _

__As he listened on, the young Raikage's eyes widened._ _

__"Goro and Hiraku?" Hearing that, his wife straightened up to a sitting position, putting a hand on his shoulder and leaning over. "No time to lose. I'm taking the first train over."_ _

__He ended the call and hastily got up, getting ready. The woman got up, too, watching him._ _

__"Darui, what's going on?"_ _

__Darui stopped in front of her and grabbed her arms. "Airi, I need to go to Konoha. Take care of Kumo in my absence."_ _

__..._ _

__Looking over the vast clearing in the heart of the forest, Konohamaru felt his spirit failing._ _

__"We missed them...?" he mumbled, his eyes wide._ _

__"They didn't leave long ago." Kiba growled, his eyes scanning everywhere. "We can still follow them..."_ _

__"That is not necessary."_ _

__Ryu and two other ninjas who were scouting up ahead came towards them, excitement apparent in their eyes._ _

__"She is still here..." one of them started._ _

__"From what we saw, she is covering their tracks. There are two others with her, both kunoichi."_ _

__"You can deal with them." Konohamaru said, determined. "Leave that woman to me."_ _

__There was a pause._ _

__"Konohamaru..." Kakashi began._ _

__"Lord sixth, please. All of you. Just make sure she doesn't run away, if your involvement becomes absolutely necessary. Otherwise stay out of my way, because I'm probably not gonna recognize you in the heat of the battle, so I can't guarantee your safety."_ _

__Kakashi sighed but at his nod, no one said anything else. At Ryu's directions, the Konoha ninjas all took their places, getting out of sight. The gaze in the brunette's eyes hardened._ _

__"This is my fight."_ _


	14. What Matters Most

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The showdown between Konohamaru and Suzume! Will the Sarutobi be able to avenge his student?

The chill of the earliest hours of the day were gaining upon them as the large group made its way through the woods, as discreetly as possible. But no chill could've rivaled the one that was growing in Sasame's heart in that moment.

She couldn't help the way in which her thoughts kept drifting to her husband.

It had been twenty years since she had known Hideyoshi, they had met briefly before she left for her mission to find her cousin. He had always been honest, caring...Especially for those younger than him. And he had always been a man of honor...That was the trademark of the Oberatsu after all, their penchant for honor...

Why would he attack a child? Was it possible...that she didn't get to know him at all...?

"Mama?"

The voice of her eldest, Kazuhiro, was enough to snap her out of it. The young boy was looking at her through worried dark brown irises. Sasame's sad eyes took a softer look. "Kazuhiro..." **(1)**

"Are we...going to see my dad again...?"

That was the question she had feared. The orange haired kunoichi closed her eyes for a moment as memories flooded her mind...

_[Flashback]_

_"I am begging you, you mustn't go!"_

_The woman's eyes showed nothing but desperation as she watched her husband packing his weapons. The arrows, his small bow...And the truth that she could do nothing to stop him made her heart ache, so much so that it was almost unbearable..._

_"This is a great honor. You should understand..."_

_"What is a great honor?" Sasame almost cried out. "To build a village from the ashes of another? Where is the honor in that?"_

_"Our village was destroyed, shunned, cursed...All because of that one cursed ninja who was pardoned for his crimes while we stayed aloof, fending for ourselves - barely..."_

_"And blaming everyone else but ourselves for it!" the woman yelled. "We couldn't form a unity because each one of the clans are too egoistic to put personal matters aside and name a leader for the prosperity of Otogakure! Why should we go wage war on an innocent nation because of this?! Why can't we make allies out of them instead of enemies?!"_

_"No, we suffer because of Orochimaru!" Hideyoshi spat, spinning around to look at her. "And if disrupting his peace means attacking his former village, so be it! What did that so-called peace treaty bring upon us?! Otogakure was cast aside as if a useless doll - no one gave us a second thought!"_

_"No one has to. We could solve all of our problems ourselves if we had enough backbone and a clever and selfless enough leader!"_

_"That's enough." The man's voice was cold and hard. "You ordered the Fuma out of this mission but the others all agreed to it."_

_"And your leader hand-picked and brainwashed you enough to repeat his own words to me. You can fool anyone but me - your heart is not entirely in this mission either."_

_Hideyoshi only avoided her gaze for a second, but when he looked back at her, his gaze was determined. "I know where my loyalties lie. Oto will be reformed, brought to glory. If it has to be on the blood of your friend, the Hokage..." His words were like a knife through her heart. "...so be it."_

_Regaining her composure, Sasame straightened her back, her gaze and voice just as cold. "If you get out now...You can't come back as Fuma Sasame's husband."_

_Hideyoshi stopped dead in his tracks as he reached to get out of the tent, and turned to look at her with sad, almost heart-broken eyes...And for a moment, Sasame couldn't even breathe as guilt and sadness washed upon her..._

_[End of Flashback]_

Sasame opened her eyes with a tear, and saw Kazuhiro was still gazing at her carefully. "Mama..."

"Kazuhiro, you have an important mission from now on." she mused softly, looking at the boy with a broken smile. "You are gonna have to take care of your brother and sister..."

"He is not coming back..." the young boy stated, not as a question, just as a means of voicing the simple truth.

"I'm afraid not, my dear child..." Sasame tried to control the trembling in her voice. "So you will be the one to fill his void...The best as you can..."

As he nodded grimly, the woman wondered how she was ever going to fill the void in her heart...

...

The young woman knelt before the other two, who were finishing their preparations.

"God dammit! They are here! There are twelve Konoha ninjas out there!"

Hearing that, Suzume's heart skipped a beat, her eyes widening. That was what she had feared - although now to think of it, most likely what the Yoshida and the other clans planned when they left her with this punishment...She was a disgrace...if she could manage to go back unscathed, she would be allowed to have a clean slate. If not...it didn't really matter if she died here.

She had just counted on the possibility that the Konoha ninjas wouldn't reach Oto this quickly.

"Okay, we have to come up with a plan. This means four ninjas for each..."

"Wait. Who told you we would be fighting?"

The woman's head turned to her comrade. "What?"

"They are here for you, not us." the second woman said matter-of-factly. "We are not gonna stand here and risk our skins."

"Together we have a better chance against them!" Suzume spat, a fire burning in her eyes. "What makes you think they won't come after you if I don't make it out?!"

"Then you better make sure to stop them. After all...that's the least you can do after how you failed so miserably."

And with that, the two women sprinted towards the trees, leaving a horrified Suzume behind...

...

The forest was quiet. Only sounds of nature waking up surrounded him as Konohamaru walked further into the clearing, his keen eyes searching everywhere, detecting every simple movement.

Letting his breath out in one curt sigh, Konohamaru took another step forward...

And came to a stop as he felt the sharp and cold tip of a kunai against his throat.

"I assume you are looking for me." came the cold, unconcerned voice of a woman behind him.

The young jounin didn't even think about it as instinct took over. In one quick motion, he dodged the blade, bent down on his knees and spun around to kick the woman's legs out from under her. Then he jumped back a little to put some distance between them and as the woman got up, he got his first glance of her.

And he did take in all aspects of her appearance...Recording all of the details of this hated woman into his memory...from her black hair tucked back into the bandana of her protector with only two bangs falling before her eyes to the black eyes, black as coals...

"Yoshida Suzume." he practically spat out her name, his voice filled with so much disgust. "I am here to exact justice on you for the crimes you committed against Konoha." His eyes narrowed. "And for harming my student."

The woman chuckled. "Oooh, how touching...but for that..."

There was a flash of light, and the next second the brunette looked, Suzume was no longer standing a few feet away from him.

"...you have to catch me first." came her voice from above, from the canopy of trees.

...

"Lord Sixth," Kakashi heard Kiba's voice in the ear piece. "We are closing in on them. What is our next..."

Before he could finish, there was an explosion of a loud, high-pitched and ringing sound and Kakashi had to pull out the ear piece in the nick of time to protect his hearing.

As the powerful blast died down slowly, the former Hokage brought the piece to his ear once again.

"What is going on? Is everyone alright?"

No sound came, only a weird buzzing. Cursing under his breath, he did a quick hand seal, and was suddenly surrounded by lightning...

...

"You moron!" The woman ran to her friend. "I told you not to do it! You're still not an expert on sound blasts!"

The woman on the ground tried to get up, but it was apparent that she wasn't doing a good job - her balance was too set off.

"We needed to stop them - they were about to catch us!"

Hearing a buzzing sound, the other looked up and and around, gritting her teeth. Nothing could be seen, but she was sensing a powerful chakra...an insanely powerful chakra.

"Good luck with that, you idiot! I'm out of here!"

"What?!" the woman yelped, positively alarmed. "Wait!"

But the former had already started to disappear through the trees. Clenching her jaw, the woman got to her feet, slowly, shakily...Her hands then moved to the crossed swords on her back, extracting two thin and long swords.

If it had to come down to a fight, they might as well have a taste of the Fujaku Hisho Shoken. **(2)**

...

So that was how she wanted to play it, huh?

He had made his plan as soon as she got lost between the trees. Without wasting any time, Konohamaru used a fire jutsu to create a huge fire wall in front of him, then punched the ground, which caused a whirlwind to be born. Using the air currents to his advantage, the jounin then sent the whirlwind, powered by the flames, directly to the cluster of trees.

She wouldn't just stand around to get roasted. She would have to come down.

Sure enough, he saw a flash of blue that probably meant she was using a water technique to meet the inferno. Light smoke began covering the area - which gave him a chance to prepare his second attack.

Inhaling, the brunette let out a huge cloud of ashes from his mouth and then, jerking his head back to activate the trigger, he watched as flames instantly covered the area...

A huge explosion went off, illuminating the dark sky. Konohamaru then took out eight shurikens, one in between each finger, and waited...

"Geez, you're indeed going all out, aren't you?"

Turning around quickly, he saw the woman for a moment before he threw half of the shurikens at her, but the next he looked, she wasn't there at all.

"That kid must have really meant something to you."

Turning to the second direction, Konohamaru threw the second group of the shurikens. Suzume tut tutted, her voice almost sounding like she was enjoying herself.

"Now now, these rash actions won't do, will they?"

"You bit-"

"Hey, watch out that tongue. This is not how you would talk to a lady."

"News flash, I will never consider you a lady."

"Hah. Guess I will have to show you, right? Torpedo Nails!"

When he heard that, the brunette jumped into the air and away from where he was just standing, just as small pieces of whatever weapon that was embedded themselves into the ground. Not wanting to take any chances, Konohamaru put his hands together to create shadow clones.

Precariously, three of the clones walked forward. As soon as they tried to take another step, though... They couldn't.

Then hundreds of nails shot from the ground, and Konohamaru jumped behind a tree as the clones disappeared with a poof sound.

Suzume had also hid herself behind a tree, hiding with the camouflage technique. Damn, this wouldn't do... She needed some extra help.

...

Just before she used the swords to launch herself into the air, she saw someone, someone shrouded in a bright armor of lightning as it seemed, running into the clearing she had just been.

Okay... lightning shouldn't be hard.

Landing on a branch, the woman quickly did a set of hand signs, and then held her hands in a triangle, positioning them so that she could see the person in between them.

"Curse Mandala!" she shouted, and her opponent came to a dead stop as a glowing green pyramid shape materialized around him, trapping him inside. Smirking, the woman began pulling her fingers closer. 

As the pyramid got tighter and tighter, though... Suddenly there was a poof sound, and the man was no longer there.

"Excuse me," then came a drawl from behind her, and she immediately turned back, only to gaze into the face of a white haired man. "But I think you got the wrong one."

Thinking quick, the woman used the swords to slash at him, but next she saw, he was not there. Losing her already unsettled balance, she fell from the tree, but thanks to her wind cutter technique, she landed safely.

"Passing Fang!"

Without catching her breath properly, she saw something... a ferociously spinning something, which looked like a drill, heading to her way and raised her swords to counter it, but hard... it was so hard to maintain her ground like this... The power forced her to take a few steps, driving her back. Gritting her teeth, she tried her best to resist it...

But it was futile. Not long after that, she felt the force of the technique throwing her back, like a rag doll, right into a rock.

As she tried to get up, bringing a hand to her head, she heard the two men talking among themselves.

"Are all of you okay, Kiba? What happened back there?"

"It was nothing we couldn't handle, Lord Sixth, we were just caught unprepared for a second."

Lord Sixth?!

The woman's eyes widened. Did... a village leader... came seeking them out?!

Well, _shit_.

"That's right. I'm the Sixth Hokage, Hatake Kakashi, and there is no way you could escape the punishment for attacking the Leaf." she heard the drawl once again as she straightened herself up. "It would be for your better interest if you surrender now without resistance..."

"Well... I'm sorry, _Rokudaime-sama_ ," the woman said from between gritted teeth, emphasizing the last word sarcastically. "But I'm Kamiko from the Yoshida clan, and the Yoshida knows no such thing as surrender."

She then brought her hands together to create balls of flame and threw them randomly towards the space between them, causing explosions and creating an opening for her to go into hiding.

On Kakashi's signal, Kiba jumped towards the trees to take another place.

"If you think you can run from us forever, think again." the former Hokage said, bringing his hands together to create lightning. Out of the charge came two hounds, who growled at him in recognition before running away.

...

Suzume bit her thumb and let a bit of blood trail from the wound before slamming her hand on the ground, creating a black shape. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A huge, poisonous green and yellow snake erupted from the ground, coiling around itself before meeting her eyes.

"Kessha, bury him to the ground!"

Hissing once, the snake rose high into the air before slamming on the earth with a huge bang that shook almost the entire forest, and slid underground.

Konohamaru had heard her next move. Acting quickly, he also slammed his palm on the ground and yelled, "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A huge monkey wearing a Konoha headband appeared in front of him, and as soon as he did, he yelled, "Jump!"

Without hesitation the brunette did as he was told, and just when he jumped, a snake burst through the ground, baring his fangs at him. With a primeval shriek, the monkey transformed itself into a long, black and yellow staff and cloned itself right before Konohamaru landed, creating some sort of a prison wall in front of him.

The snake's bared fangs collided with the many staffs that had made the wall, but the prison itself wasn't even shaken. At that time, the snake caught the eyes that were protruding from the staff, and its eyes widened.

Without going for another attack, it slid back into the hole and disappeared from the view.

The staff returned to its original size, releasing Konohamaru from where he was trapped, and the jounin held the staff in his hands in an attack pose.

"Enma..." **(3)**

"No words needed, boy. Better not let your guard down." the monkey king spoke from the staff. "We have faced this enemy before."

...

The woman's eyes widened when she saw Kessha returning to her.

"What do you think you are doing?! Keep attacking, he is not dead yet!"

"Are you serious?!" the snake asked in a feminine voice, obviously furious and panicked. "You want me to fight with the fucking monkey king Enma?! Are you out of your mind?!"

"So what?!" Suzume yelled, equally pissed off. "Stop being a hebiko **(4)** , and finish them off!"

...

"Wait, what do you mean we faced them before?" Konohamaru asked with a frown, thoroughly confused.

"You remember when you summoned me when the orphanage was attacked?" Enma's arm stretched out from the staff and he touched the adamantine with it, as if tapping his nose. "My nose never failed me. That snake the woman just used was one of those who were present in that attack."

For a moment, the brunette didn't even know what to say. "W-what...?"

"As you just heard it," the monkey said, glancing at him. "This woman was definitely involved in the attack against Konoha."

Konohamaru's mind was reeling, so many questions and thoughts... What did this even mean? That the Sound was once again playing as Orochimaru's pioneers? Was there an even greater scheme behind all of these?

Or... he didn't want to think of this, but he was a jounin and he was supposed to look at it from all angles, no matter how disturbing they might be...

Was there a possibility... that the sannin wasn't involved in it... at _all_?

He was lost in thought for a moment, he didn't notice the impending threat until Enma called out. "Watch out!"

Looking up just in time, the brunette used the staff to ward off the lights, but one of them came too close to his arm, and he hissed in pain as something seared it.

Then he heard the woman's high, cold laughter.

"Uh oh, guess we just got busted, aren't we?" she said in a sing-song voice, which irritated the man even more. "You couldn't deny the mastermind behind the plan, though, admit it! You numb skulls didn't even suspect a thing!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

There was a whoosh sound right behind him then, and using a kunai, he slashed, only to meet the air. The woman laughed once again, but her voice sounded from far away.

"Did you know it took us a lot of time to finally copy that damned curse seal? It was no easy feat, and even harder to create three snakes all at once - just a couple of months ago I could only call forth two."

"You..." words were failing him, he was so outraged.

"Wait, just answer me this... was that child in some way related to that snake bastard? I thought as much when he looked up at me... Was that the reason you guys kicked him out of the village? Wow, now even we couldn't have planned that!"

"What does it matter if he is related to him or not?" Konohamaru yelled in rage, creating another set of clones. "He is still a child!"

He then used the clones to throw shurikens towards the woman's voice from all directions.

"Did you know that he begged for his life?" the woman then said, from right behind him.

This time, his body acted before his mind. Lightning fast, he reached out to grab the woman's shoulder and flipped himself over her in one quick motion. As soon as he landed, still holding on to her, he threw her over himself, basically slamming her into the ground. Without giving her a chance to recover, grabbing the adamantine staff tightly, he brought the end of it, hard, to Suzume's head, seeing her eyes widening in shock. "Cranium crusher!"

Just before the staff touched her, though, the woman had disappeared in a flash. The jounin stood there for a moment, enraged.

_How the fuck did that just happen?!_

A few feet away, crouched behind a rock, the Oto kunoichi brought a hand to her chest. That... had been close.

...

Hearing the growls of the lightning beasts as they drew closer, Kamiko gritted her teeth, she had to do something about them - fast.

Turning around, she once again used the swords to create powerful air blasts - slice after another slice - and sent them after the hounds. Easily dodging them, one of them came running at her, its fangs bared, at which the woman dug one of the swords to the ground, swinging around it and kicking the air currents at the creature's face.

Although it stopped the hound, its lightning did catch her left foot and the woman cursed as she knelt on the ground, holding it.

Damn, this was going to make things hard for her.

Hearing a sound right then, Kamiko took a dozen of shurikens and threw four of them randomly, towards the cardinal directions. She saw a ninja rushing towards her from one direction, and she pulled the strings attached to the shuriken to make it fly towards the enemy, but the weapon passed through him and the body disappeared.

A clone...

The real ninja then jumped her from a completely different direction, forcing her to get up, which caused pain to shout up through her left leg.

She didn't have time to concentrate on it, though, as she saw the opponent's fist soaring towards her face.

So he was going to rely on taijutsu, huh? Well, that was just fine with her.

Gathering chakra to the tips of her fingers, she prepared to launch her attack. This was meant to cause the sound waves emitted by the body, the heartbeat for example, to respond to her chakra and make a pressure powerful enough to cause some serious damage. Bonus points if she managed to hit the enemy in the chest area.

So they fought, but her opponent was good. It was apparent that he was very skilled, as he managed to dodge her every move. Her hand did come close to his body once or twice, but caused nothing more than a flinch.

Just when she made another move, the ninja suddenly brought up his left arm and right leg and before she knew it, her arm was caught in between them.

A crack was heard.

Crying out loud from the pain, Kamiko fell on the ground, holding the broken arm. Seeing that the man was still advancing, she tried to reach one of the swords using her left arm...

Out of nowhere, tiny wires wrapped around the sword and before she could touch it, the weapon broke into tiny pieces.

Eyes widened in shock, she turned around herself to reach for the other, but before she could do that, a powerful blast of power sent her flying.

Just when she was about to get up again, she felt something... a powerful, burning electric surge directed to her back, not piercing it, but its presence so threatening that she found it impossible to even take another step...

"Chidori. A thousand birds." came the voice of the sixth behind her. "One hit and you will die the worst death... Suffering as your insides burned on with hundreds of volt."

Feeling the kunoichi shiver before him, Kakashi continued in the same cold tone. "Surrender now. It's over."

There was really nothing else she could do. Slowly, cursing under her breath for it... She raised her hands up.

...

Suddenly hearing a buzz from his ear piece, Konohamaru concentrated on it, while his keen eyes searched everywhere for Suzume.

"We are done here, Konohamaru. It's all up to you now."

Hearing that, a big grin etched its way on his face. That was it... 

"Did you hear that?" he yelled towards the woman, although he knew that she probably didn't. "Your little friend is finished. You are all alone now!"

"Oh. Just like how you left that kid alone?" came the woman's voice.

"I know what you did. I know how you trapped him so we couldn't hear him!"

"Bet you didn't know how he was crying when we were finished with him, though?" came her whisper from right behind him then, and for a moment... everything came to a stop as the jounin froze... literally froze.

He didn't believe her other words from before... He knew Mitsuki would never beg for his life and he knew for sure that no matter what that woman believed, he wasn't sent away from Konoha, Lord Seventh would _never_ allow that...

But... he... was _crying_...?

How deeply must he have been hurt - not just physically but emotionally too - after what he had gone through in the village...?

And they could do _nothing_ to stop it... He himself had failed as his sensei...

"Boy look out!" he heard Enma's voice, but then it was too late.

He hadn't noticed Suzume sneaking up behind him. There was an explosion and Konohamaru felt himself thrown into the air, with a burning pain in his back.

He landed a few feet away, and brought a hand to his wounds as he tried to get up. Enma was beside him in a second, with a disapproving look on his face.

"Didn't I tell you not to get distracted? Zoning out is the last thing you would want to do with someone like her around! Get a grip already!"

"I-I know," the brunette mumbled. "I'm fine..."

Then he once again heard the voice of the Lord Sixth coming from the ear piece, although his tone was harsher than before. "Konohamaru. If you are going to be careless like this, I will have to step in." Then his voice softened a little. "You have come this far this good. You wanted to fight her alone. Don't let me take this chance away from you now."

Those... were just the words he needed. 

Closing his eyes, Konohamaru straightened himself and got up, forgetting about the pain for a moment to concentrate on ending this. Concentrating on his chakra, he called upon a rasengan... A big one... and watched it as it got bigger...

_[Flashback]_

_...this... this was not happening..._

_It felt like time had stopped, trapping Konohamaru inside his own personal hell as he watched, too shocked to even breathe, his student... passing away... right before his very eyes..._

_What he wouldn't give to be dying in Mitsuki's place right now... He was too young... Just barely thirteen... He did not deserve this - he deserved to live!..._

_"...Sh... Shall I announce the time..?"_

_When he heard the nurse... all of a sudden, he snapped back to life._

_Without seeing eyes, he strode to the door and burst it open, rushing inside..._

_Two of the nurses managed to barely stop him before he reached the bed, and Konohamaru tried to control his breathing as he looked at an unmoving Mitsuki._

_"Konohamaru-san, please..." one of the nurses mumbled, tearing up._

_"Mitsuki!!!" the jounin yelled, barely recognizing his own voice, filled with so many emotions. "You can do this, kiddo, don't give up! You are so much stronger than this! Come back to us!"_

_"Konohamaru-san, please you have to step back...!" said one of the nurses, she barely had the strength to push back a man like Konohamaru and he was clearly not accepting his student's death but... there was nothing more they could do...! The kid... was dead... his heart didn't respond..._

_"Tsunade-sama...?" murmured the second nurse, looking at the former Hokage._

_"Wait... wait just a second..."Sakura mumbled in Tsunade's place, her eyes still on the machine._

_"Sakura-san... It might be too much already..." One of the nurses warned her._

_"No... no, please... please don't give up on him... He's strong, he'll pull through... I'm begging you, please don't give up..." Konohamaru said, almost as if in a trance._

_"Let's just leave the child in peace..." another nurse said, her voice shaky._

_Tsunade snapped back to herself and hastily hushed the nurse, staring at Sakura._

_"Sakura-san..." But as the nurse was about to mumble the same words as before... a tiny but sudden sound erupted from the machine, causing everyone's eyes to immediately set at it._

_As the heart rate slowly, very slowly turned back to normal, Sakura broke into a smile, and laughed softly, while tears fell down from her eyes. "You really do like your surprises, don't you?" she mused fondly, leaning over to kiss Mitsuki on the top of his head. A tear fell on the closed eye of the child._

_Tsunade smiled too, but it was a broken smile. "Really, kid... I'm not a young woman anymore, don't scare us like that..."_

_Konohamaru was hit by such a huge wave of relief that he almost couldn't stand his ground. He brought his hand over his mouth as he began to softly cry himself._

_He didn't object this time as the nurse told him he should really wait outside, and silently retreated out of the room, his eyes on Mitsuki all the time._

_[End of Flashback]_

He heard a sliding sound, trees crunching as the giant snake once again made her way to him. His eyes, however, were locked on the woman, who stood behind the beast, a disgusting smirk all over her face...

And Konohamaru stroke forward.

He swung the adamantine staff towards the snake, enlarging the staff. Enma burst out at the end of it, wrapping his arms around the snake before he pierced her throat with his fangs.

And before she could do anything... Konohamaru had grabbed the woman by her collar, slamming her into a tree...

Suzume's eyes widened for one last time before the rasengan hit her chest with full force.

It was over...

...

Enma turned to his normal form as the other Konoha ninjas gathered around, all just silently looking at the brunette. The monkey king had a small smile on his face, his look both exasperated and proud.

_'You have quite the grandson, Hiruzen...'_ he thought to himself.

...

Dropping the woman's body to the ground, the jounin looked at her expressionlessly, feeling only... relieved... a hole...

_[Flashback]_

_Konohamaru felt so proud of his students... The second round of the Chuunin exams was over, and they had managed an excellent teamwork. Much better than what he expected, really, what with Boruto being Boruto..._

_Speaking of which, he noticed two genins in his team were approached by their family, receiving cheers and congratulations, big smiles on their faces... and of course, Boruto had been in a gloating mode..._

_The next thing he noticed was his third student... standing all by himself, a couple of feet away from them, just looking at his two teammates and their families with a small smile._

_And something about that bothered the young jounin. About how Mitsuki had no one to cheer for him, at least for that moment..._

_Making his decision, he started walking towards him._

_The blue haired boy was surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to gaze into the smiling face of his sensei._

_"Well done, kiddo, great job," Konohamaru said encouragingly. "I knew you guys would do it."_

_And slowly, the boy's face broke into a full-on smile as well..._

_[End of Flashback]_

_'Thank you... sensei...'_

Hearing the faint voice brought by the wind itself, the brunette's eyes widened for a moment. Before he knew it, he had fallen on his knees beside Suzume's body, his head bowed low as he started softly weeping, and the sun's first rays began seeping through the trees...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Remember or note down these names, people. They are gonna be very important in the following projects.
> 
> (2) You can search this and almost all of the technique names listed on this chapter on Narutopedia.
> 
> (3) In case you are wondering... Yes, Enma is the Enma who was Hiruzen's personal summon.
> 
> (4) This literally means snake child, but I used it here to mean "baby snake", as in Suzume telling Kessha to stop acting like a scared baby.


	15. Tears of Regret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are our fuel to continue this fanfic people :) please drop one with your thoughts!

Naruto was reading the complete report on the interrogations, Shikamaru standing beside him, neither of them speaking. With each word he was reading the blond was feeling his heart getting heavier.

"I... absolutely, completely messed up..." he mumbled finally, shaking his head.

"Naruto..." his advisor began with a sigh. "Don't be so hard on yourself..."

"And how can I not?!" he exclaimed as he jumped to his feet and began pacing back and forth. "It was my responsibility to keep that child safe! And I failed, I couldn't protect him from those bastards..." There was a pause before the Hokage painfully added. "Or from the villagers..."

"You couldn't have known..."

"Shikamaru." Naruto gave him a knowing look. "Lame old excuse, and you know it."

The Nara didn't say anything else to that. Naruto paced for some more, and turned again to look at him. 

"I want to hold a second meeting. Inform the clans and tell them that attendance is mandatory, we will tolerate no excuses."

Shikamaru nodded. "Any preferences of when?"

Naruto thought about it for a minute. "I would've loved to have them dragged out of their beds right now, but let's have it at sunset. Everyone will be present by then."

"On it."

Just as Shikamaru walked towards the door, it opened suddenly, making him come to a sudden stop. Seeing the person standing in the doorway, Naruto immediately walked over. "Sasuke..."

"Lord Seventh." Shikamaru bowed his head slightly before walking out.

As soon as he was out, Naruto asked in a low tone. "Where is Orochimaru?"

"I followed him, like you wanted." the Uchiha said seriously. "He went to his son's apartment, and he didn't come out."

The hokage was still tense. "That means he saw those graffitis..."

"Oh, he did." The look in the obsidian eyes hardened. "He stared at them for a good while, too. He decided to take no action, but I don't know for how long this silence will continue."

The blond closed his eyes for a moment and let out the breath he didn't know he was holding until then. "We have to keep an eye on him. If he decides to strike..."

"It is not like he doesn't have good reasons." At the look his friend had given him, the man huffed. "But in any case, I am going to keep close tabs on him. I will keep you informed."

The hokage nodded. "We will have another meeting at sunset."

Sasuke didn't say anything, simply nodded. When he opened the door, he almost bumped back into Shikamaru.

"Naruto..." the advisor said, almost breathless. "The trackers are back."

The blond's eyes widened for a moment, and before he knew it, he was already pushing through his advisor to get out of the room. 

In front of the office building, he found out that already a dozen of people had gathered. And indeed, the trackers were approaching, Konohamaru in the lead, carrying an... unconscious...? dead...? He couldn't be sure, but he was carrying a woman, and something about the look on his face... made Naruto almost cringe. There was also another prisoner as far as he can see...

He walked forward to meet them, his eyes on the woman who was on her feet. "Is she...?"

"No." the answer came from Konohamaru, and hearing his voice... the blond now knew that something was indeed wrong. "Yoshida Suzume was this person." he indicated the woman he was holding.

A moment of silence fell upon the gathered. So many questions came to Naruto's mind, but he didn't voice them just yet. Instead, he turned to one of the jounins. "Take that woman to the hospital." Then another one. "And take the other down to the interrogation rooms." Then he turned to the trackers. "I expect your reports to be delivered tomorrow at the latest."

"Yes, lord seventh." they said in unison.

"You may leave."

As they turned their back to go, Naruto spoke once again. "Konohamaru... I would like to speak to you for a moment."

The young man nodded and turned around to follow him into his office. The hokage was watching him intently as he closed the door. "What is wrong?" he asked at last when he turned around properly to face him.

"Excuse me, lord seventh?" the brunette asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"I can see it in your expression... What happened there? Something is troubling you..."

There was a pause. "I... don't know how to say this..." he finally replied, his gaze on the ground.

"Tell me from the beginning."

There was a moment of pause. Naruto just waited, patiently, hands clasped beneath his chin.

"I just..." the brunette said at last, not looking up. "can't help but thinking... how Mitsuki must have felt... facing them off, all alone..."

Naruto didn't say anything for a moment, but felt a small lump forming in his throat. "Konohamaru..."

"That woman said he... h-he..." the jounin gulped, it was only too clear that he was having a hard time to continue. "She told me that in the end, he was crying..."

Shock reigned supreme on the blond's face as he registered the jounin's words. "H-he... _what_...?" He was trying, hard, to regain his composure, but it had become a hard job... almost impossible... 

"She told me a lot of things... Just to bring me down, I guess, but I knew those words were lies... but... When she said that, I knew it was true... What they did to him... What _we_ did to him..."

"Konohamaru..." Naruto sighed as he brought two of his fingers to pinch his nose... Honestly, it was all that took him to remain calm... He could understand only too well what could have gone through the poor boy's head... How many times had he felt so heart-broken that he just wanted to run away and never look back? How many times had he felt like he was suffocating under the weight of all the hatred? He had promised himself... the moment he had accepted the boy into Konoha, that nothing like what he had gone through would happen again... That was exactly why he had put up a decree even before the child arrived, forbidding anyone and everyone to cause him harm... He felt like he was falling apart to see that he failed... and not just only a little, he had failed miserably...

Trying to ease his mind out of those thoughts, he concentrated his attention on the young jounin again. "You can't let this get to you."

"I saw him," Konohamaru continued, and his voice came out tired, strained... if he had to guess, even with a bit of self-loathe, which made the Hokage frown slightly. "I saw him and I just _knew_ something was wrong, I just never imagined... I could've stopped him if I was only a little more cautious..." his voice faded away as he closed his eyes and shook his head. "What good am I as a sensei...?"

The blond sighed again and closed his eyes for a moment before getting up and walking towards the jounin. When he was right in front of him, he put his hands on his shoulders.

"You are the best sensei I could ever think of for them," he said firmly, causing the brunette to look up at him. "There were no other options, I just knew you would never treat him differently." A small, fleeting smile curled the corners of his lips. "And I never regretted that decision. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Naruto-nii-sama," Konohamaru said, with the hint of a bitter smile himself. "These are just empty reassurances, and you know it."

Not knowing what else to say, only being sure that only time could ease the heavy burden on his shoulders, the Hokage let him go and stepped back. "We will have a second meeting at the sunset..."

"I will be there." the jounin said, almost in a cold tone, reminding Naruto of how strongly he defended Mitsuki in the first one. Then the brunette sagged a little. "Lord seventh, if you may... I'd like to... go see him..."

Naruto nodded. "You may leave."

...

The raw rays of sunshine embraced the hospital building, as if to completely cover what the darkness of the night brought, to right the wrongs. The man's steps were neither too slow nor too quick, he was just striding forward as if a divine order was directing his steps.

He quietly made his way to his student's room, his heart thumping loudly. Was he still there? He had to be there, right? He had to hear the news, he had to know he wasn't forgotten, he had to know he was cared...

He stopped for a minute before the room and gazed inside, just to make sure.

Their positions weren't changed. Mitsuki was still lying motionless on the bed, the only thing reassuring them being the steady sounds. Sarada was sitting by his left side, facing the sensei, her head on the bed, although Konohamaru could see her eyes were open, just staring at the blue-haired boy. Boruto sat with his back to him, straight and unmoving.

Gathering the courage that he didn't know had suddenly vanished, Konohamaru grabbed the door's knob and pushed it open. The sound caused both of his students to turn to him. 

"Sensei..." whispered Sarada.

"Hey..." it was all he said as he approached them, pulling out a chair and finding a spot to sit next to Boruto.

He stared at his youngest student for a long while, the night's events playing in his head, marveling at how brave this boy had been... reckless too, yeah, there was no denying that... But to face those monsters, completely isolated...

He put his hand over Mitsuki's, careful about not touching the IV.

A broken smile etched on his face and he had to gulp before he whispered, "Hi there, kiddo."

"Would..." he heard Sarada say after a minute, and the girl paused for a second before continuing. "Would you like us to leave you alone...?" He could only very clearly hear the reluctance in her voice.

Konohamaru was surprised for a moment but that quickly went away as the soft expression returned. He smiled a bit at his student before shaking his head. "No..." he said. "I want him to know that we're all here."

Sarada relaxed back in her chair while Boruto didn't utter a single word, he simply stared at his sensei and then back at his friend.

The look in the jounin's eyes hardened a little as his gaze, too, drifted to the unconscious boy. "You better prepare yourself for a good scolding when you wake up, Mitsuki."

The children were clearly taken aback, both by his words and tone, he could see the shocked expressions on their faces. "W-what do you mean, sensei?" Sarada asked, gulping. "Why...?"

"He was attacked..." Boruto said cautiously, eyeing his sensei wearily. "It's not like..."

"It's exactly what it sounds like." the brunette explained simply. "Your friend here thought it was a brilliant idea to engage five jounins in battle for the safety of the village."

There was a deafening silence.

"... _Five_...?" the Uchiha mumbled finally in a tiny voice.

"But that... was he...?" the blond wasn't even able to put together logical sentences. "You mean to tell me... What kind of stupid logic was that?!" he finally burst out. " _Why_ would he do that?! _How_ could he even believe that?!"

"What is the meaning of being a hero if you are gonna get hurt yourself...?" the girl said, shaking her head.

"That's something only he can tell us... I can't wait to hear the whole story from him, either." Konohamaru went silent again as he looked back at Mitsuki, trying to gather his thoughts.

"We did it, kid," he continued. "We got the last member of that damned squad..."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his other two students shifting, now interested. Sarada's fingers curled a little more around Mitsuki's hand. Konohamaru tried to choose the right words, just gazing at the blue haired boy's face.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered after a second. "I am sorry we weren't there soon enough. I am sorry you had to face them alone, even when you shouldn't." He sighed. "And I'm sorry... that you ever felt you were truly alone..."

This certainly caught Boruto and Sarada's attention. "Sensei...?" whispered Sarada, curiosity but also worry filling her ebony eyes. Boruto also shifted in his seat, sitting up straight, a frown in his features. "What do you mean... he felt truly alone...?"

The young man looked between their faces sadly, this was going to be hard for the kids. He closed his eyes for a second as, unwelcome as it was, the woman's words about how Mitsuki was... crying... came back to him. He opened his eyes again, looking at the child lying on the bed and lightly squeezing his hand. "One of those damned ninjas..." he began, his voice broken. "She had the power to block sounds. They trapped Mitsuki in a place where we couldn't even hear him... couldn't even know he was fighting for us..."

He heard Sarada and Boruto slightly gasp as their attentions immediately drifted towards their sleeping friend. Konohamaru had to sigh before continuing. "But it seems that he didn't... know about that trap...so they taunted him... about how no one was coming to his rescue, even though he was so close to us..." He felt his lip tremble for a moment but he quickly regained his composure. "Mitsuki... believed that no one was coming to help him... that he was completely alone..."

Sarada brought a hand to her mouth, the other still tightly grabbing her friend's hand, and tears begin to fill her eyes. "No..." she whispered, unable to truly comprehend how that must have felt. 

They had completely ruined him... The villagers, those ninjas... No one coming for his help... She started shaking with sobs. What did Mitsuki ever do to deserve these...?

Boruto was trembling, and tears filled his eyes as he tried to gulp. "How could you ever think we would leave you alone...?" he whispered, so quiet that his voice barely reached his own ears.

For a moment Konohamaru let go of Mitsuki's hand before wrapping one arm around Boruto's shoulders and extending the other arm to touch Sarada's hand. He smiled brightly at them. "That's why we need to stick together, to let him know that we're all here for him. Alright...?"

"Mitsuki..." Sarada began, trying to pull herself together. "We... we are all here. We are with you... We will see this together..." Her voice trembled, but she pushed on. "We will always be here for you..." she finished, and started sobbing once again.

"Even if you get bored of us at one point, we will stick by you anyway," Boruto said with a strong determination, also trembling a little.

It might have been their imagination... but the moment they said that, it felt like the heart rating machine's beeps rose for a moment before returning to normal. Had Mitsuki heard them...? Had he felt that?

The sensei gave a small laugh at that, gazing fondly at his younger student. "That's right, kiddo... You are never alone."

He didn't know how much time passed, but after a while, he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and got up. "Get some sleep, you two." he said, but he wasn't sure if they would listen.

He was almost to the door when he stopped in his steps and looked back.

"Oh, one more thing, we made peace with Hanabi. She says hi... and get well soon."

Boruto couldn't help himself as a small, sad smile adorned his lips. "Sensei..." he said, not taking his eyes away from his best friend's face. "Thank you."

...

She couldn't sleep.

It was already past sunrise. Himawari had woken up not too long ago and was out with some of the children. She was loved by almost everyone in the Hyuga, and the children had practically begged her to come out and play. It was all the best for Hanabi, too, because she didn't want her niece to witness just how restless she had become.

There was still no news. Not from Konohamaru, not from the hospital...

Her worry had gradually turned into panic as hours passed by and it took her a great deal of self-control to keep herself from running to the hospital. She knew it wouldn't do any good... and of course, she couldn't leave her niece all by herself.

So all she could do was stand there and pray, while trying not to dwell too much on what they had done...

There was a knock on the door, and after heaving deep sigh, the young woman walked over.

When she saw her lover at the door, she wasn't sure how to feel at first. Relief? More worry...? Seeing the blank expression on his face, she felt her heart sink.

"Konohamaru..." she said sadly. When she noticed he wasn't going to say anything, she stepped aside. "Come in..."

The brunette kept his silence as he slowly walked in, not really looking at her. Even more anxious now, but deciding to leave the first move to him, Hanabi made to close the door.

That was when she got a good look at his back, and gasped. "You are hurt!"

That sparked the first reaction in the jounin and he turned to gaze at her, looking so... tired, so... lost... that the woman didn't know what to say for a moment.

Regaining her composure, she walked over to him. "Let me take a look at it..."

Putting her hands on his shoulders, she directed him to the living room. It wasn't until they both sat on the sofa that Konohamaru finally spoke. "This is nothing..." he whispered, his tone so hollow... Hanabi felt her fingers tightening as she was taking his jacket off.

"Konohamaru..."

"He very nearly died... they didn't even care if he was just a child... He was so severely injured... he almost died..." the man had begun shaking. "And now the medics don't even know whether he will wake up or not..."

The Hyuga was so shocked that she couldn't even find her voice. "Oh my God..."

"And all because he decided to fight..." he continued as if he didn't hear her. "That child... as always, he thought about everyone but himself, and decided to fight... even when we made him run away..."

At that point, the woman couldn't hold back her tears. Leaning in gently so as not to hurt him more, she put her arms below his and hugged him tenderly. "Sorry... Oh my God, Konohamaru, I'm so sorry..."

For a moment, the Sarutobi didn't do anything. But then he put his hand over hers. "I know..." he whispered. "I know what you had to do... I'm not mad at you..."

"It still doesn't make it better," she said, muffled against him. "I shouldn't have given in... Now look at what happened..."

"You couldn't have known..."

Hanabi almost laughed at that. "Look at you... I should be the one trying to comfort you, and yet here you are..."

Konohamaru smiled a little. "That's what we are for... For each other."

They didn't talk much after that as the Hyuga tended to the wounds on his back. After a short while, she felt him beginning to relax and lifted herself from the sofa, making him lie back down so that he could sleep off the night's events.

...

It was about two hours later that Himawari came back.

The young woman was shocked when she heard the door bang open and stomping footsteps made their way inside. She quickly looked at her boyfriend but he hadn't even flinched, out cold.

She quickly made her way out of the room and silently closed the door just as she heard Himawari's angry yell.

"And don't you ever come back! I don't wanna play with any of you anymore!"

Hanabi winced when the door slammed shut, loudly.

When she got there, she saw her niece was literally fuming. "Hima! What happened?"

"They are all a bunch of idiots!" the six years old cried out in frustration. "I never want to see them again!"

And with that, she stomped to her room. After a moment of stunned silence, Hanabi decided to follow her.

The youngest Uzumaki was sitting on her bed, arms crossed and a serious pout in her features. The young woman slowly sat on the mattress. "Hima... what is it?"

"It is those boys! Like they know anything better!"

"Why don't you tell me from the beginning? But it's better if we try to keep it down, okay? Konohamaru-san is here and he is sleeping..."

"Oh..." Himawari blinked, and bit her lip. "I'm sorry... I just thought, seeing that onii-chan is never around nowadays... they had training or something..."

Hanabi gulped inconspicuously, not knowing what to say. The dark look returned to the blue eyes of the girl after a moment, and she began to speak.

"It's about Mitsu-nii... It was all good at first, we were just playing some games, but then that stupid Shoji came and asked me whether or not we were still speaking with Mitsu-nii and I swear, auntie, I didn't think anything of it! I said of course we are, me and onii-chan regard him like a brother, and that was when another one laughed and said we should better say goodbye to him then!"

For a moment, the Hyuga felt her blood running cold. "W-what did they mean by that...?" Surely, the news shouldn't have reached yet... If they did, though...

"Some non-sense about how he should get out of Konoha, how he doesn't belong here! Ha! As if!" Her voice had risen again. "And I told him to shut his mouth, that Mitsu-nii does belong in Konoha and a brat like him has no sat in it anyway!" Her look became even darker. "That's when he said... they already had their say in it." 

"And by that..."

"They boasted about how some of the older children ganged up on him yesterday night and how that was what he deserved!" The girl was so angry that she was shaking now. "And I didn't mean to... Well I did, but... I hit one of his chakra points. Serves him right, though." She frowned again, deep.

"Don't worry about that now." Hanabi was angry... really angry... Yes, they had agreed for the exile but not for these despicable harassments! How dare any Hyuga disregard this?!

But she couldn't let her emotions show now...

"I wish I can go see him now," the girl continued, oblivious, sadness in her tone. "He must be feeling really down... He will need some cheering up, and I know I'm the only person!"

The woman now had a lump in her throat. "Himawari..."

"I know, I will go find onii-chan, I'm sure they're just hanging out somewhere... It's so unlike onii-chan to pass up a chance to visit you though, auntie, so I wanna know what's keeping him, too..." Then she smirked a bit. "Maybe he's just busy helping Mitsu-nii against those jerks."

Finally, Hanabi just reached and pulled her in a hug, burying her face in her hair. "You will know soon, sweetheart..." But it would be best for Himawari to hear it from her parents.

...

The sun had lowered its position in the sky, dying the heavens in shades of crimson and pink.

The people who entered the hall were talking to each other in hushed voices, gazing at the front to where Naruto sat behind his desk, his head bowed a little forward, resting on his hands clasped in front of him. Even from a distance it was clear that he was wearing signs of weariness, and a grave look adorned his features, making him seem older for his age. The serious and sad aura he seemed to be reflecting was almost contagious, as every single person standing around him kept their silent, too, almost as if the scene was not a meeting, but the gathering by someone's deathbed.

The people looked at each other curiously, but didn't say anything more as they sat down.

Naruto looked at all of the people who have gathered over his fingers, having a much despised dejavu as he took in the faces. A couple of minutes passed in silence.

He lowered his hands. "How was your day?" he asked in a low voice, a voice which was almost devoid of emotions. 

His words were met with an even denser silence.

Naruto stood up slowly, and walked to the front of his desk. 

"How was your day?" He repeated, this time loudly. "Was it sunny? Windy? Was there rain? Tell me."

Everyone looked at one another, completely taken aback. Why was the hokage asking that kind of a question all of a sudden?

"It was... nice, I guess." someone said finally.

"It rained almost non-stop from the night though."

"Well the sun did come up - I think it was generally a nice day."

Naruto nodded to himself while people kept murmuring. "I'm glad you, at least, can see and feel how beautiful the day supposedly was." He said and stopped, while the people in the meeting room just kept staring at him. "Because..." he continued, and his voice took a softer tone. "One of us was not able to see it. Not today. Maybe... not ever."

There was a silence in the room, some understood what he was talking about, others had no idea. 

"What... pardon me for asking my lord, but what is it that you mean?" 

Naruto opened his eyes and the look was so cold that it caused almost everyone's blood to freeze right there and then.

They... had never seen such a look in their Hokage's eyes... so cold... so distant...

"Konoha... made a very, very grave mistake..." Naruto whispered, in a voice which wouldn't be heard normally if it wasn't very quiet in the room. "The price of which was almost too high for us to pay."

The villagers were more confused than ever now - the hokage was sure speaking in riddles. The people exchanged glances, none of them daring to question what their leader's words meant.

"The child... that more than half of you," he gestured to the clans present. "wanted me to exile over something beyond his control..." he continued before he faced them again. "Is, in this exact moment, in a deep coma after he nearly lost his life trying to protect our village from a barbarian attack."

The silence was abruptly broken as once again, murmurings filled the room. Only a limited number of people in the room knew about the events of the evening, for others, it was a big shock.

"An attack?" One of those among the Akimichi asked, baffled. "By whom?"

"Rogue ninjas of the cloud and survivors of the sound," answered Kakashi simply, knowing Naruto had very little patience right now. "And the attack, like your Hokage said, was stopped by a thirteen year old boy."

Naruto immediately cut in. "Who, if I might remind... left the village in the first place because of your clans' constant harassments."

"Excuse me, lord seventh..." Naruto immediately recognized Sarutobi Kichiro's voice among the others, and he instinctly stiffened with the strong feeling of dislike. "But _how_ is it exactly our fault? We didn't force that child to leave." His tone was practically indifferent, no regard of the child who was in such a critic condition...

Naruto hit with his fist in such force against the table that it left a crack. "Not your fault...? You, Kichiro, have a big nerve in talking... because I have gathered proofs that at least the Sarutobi were under _YOUR_ direct orders to make that child feel unwanted!" He punched the table again, another crack... "Despite _MY_ strict orders that Mitsuki was to be left _ALONE_ and out of this matter!"

Konohamaru was trying to keep his temper under control until this very moment, when his clan leader decided to speak, and right then, he just snapped.

"My student..." He whispered, his tone so cold and hateful that Kichiro actually did a double take. "...just almost died right before my very eyes... They were about to announce him dead... So, by any right, tell me who had been mercilessly harassing him, so I know _exactly_ who I will never have the misfortune to speak to again."

Kichiro was sweating... hard... the frown in his face clearly gave away how guilty he was in the matter...

Before anything else could be said, a clear, female voice rose in the room. "Lord Seventh," Hanabi spoke. "I was one of the few people that knew about what was happening yesterday and therefore, I have taken measures. The Hyuga involved in those despicable harassments will be given the proper punishment, it does not matter if my clan voted in favor of the child's exile, I would never allow such a thing to go unpunished." She bowed. "I apologize for what distraught my clan caused to the child."

"Excuse me, lord seventh, but... rogue nins? What business would they have, attacking a village as strong as Konoha?" 

The subtext was clear to everyone, and Kakashi once again felt the need to intervene before Naruto could say anything, although he himself felt his temper raising. "They aimed to disrupt the peace and assassinate lord seventh, therefore creating chaos in the village."

Gasps rose in the air followed by whispers and mumbles.

"Assassinate someone as strong as Lord Seventh? They wouldn't make it!"

"Perhaps... but until they reached Lord Seventh, how many innocent people would have been lost? How many children would have died in a clearly planned out killing?" said Kakashi.

"We have more than enough strong ninjas who would defend the innocent... It seems to me like the child's intervention was unnecessary..."

"Not when you couldn't even hear their screams, you wouldn't be able to protect people." Kiba growled, his eyes hard as steel. "Correct me if I'm wrong, because I really... _really_ hope for your sake that you are not trying to call the child stupid in front of me."

"And what makes you _SO_ sure that the child was not involved in the attack and was betrayed?" someone suggested. "You said yourselves, some were ninjas from the sound village, found by none other than Orochimaru, who, oh so _coincidentally_ is the parent of that child."

"You bastard..." Konohamaru was about to make his way over to the low life who had just said that, and two people, one of them being the Yamanaka in his own team this morning stopped him before he could move. Ryu turned to look at the person who had just spoken, a great distaste in his eyes.

"I interrogated the two rogue nins that were captured myself. I hope none of you will ever have to experience such a thing happening to your child... How that boy was mercilessly taunted, beaten even after he was defeated and on the ground... How scared he was..."

"Well anyone betrayed would-"

The phrase wasn't even finished... there was a huge "CRACK" which scared everyone in that room, what had that been?! 

" _ENOUGH!_ " They heard a strong, female voice yelling. The faces slowly turned towards the direction to face a very angry Tsunade... hell, maybe very angry wasn't the correct way to put it... she was beyond pissed! Some even gulped... they knew well the former hokage's temper...

"I was there, I saw that child's life almost slip away between my fingers, I KNOW the gravity of those wounds and I guarantee you that if I could, I would make each one of you idiots, who keep mistreating a poor child, have those wounds for the rest of your lives!" The woman was seething, literally trying to calm herself but it was hard. "If anything... Show some respect for a child who almost give away his life so that you ungrateful morons could rest at your homes safely instead of fighting for your lives on a hospital bed! Be grateful for each one of your breath, because a child was selfless enough to take the brunt of a vicious attack that could've turned into a village-wide catastrophe!" Her fist was shaking, but she quickly controlled it.

Naruto's eyes were hard as stone, his lips set in a firm line, he hadn't even flinched for a moment at the woman's outburst.

Quietly he stood up. "I believe we have all made our point clear here." He started to walk away before stopping in his steps. "I don't think I need to say that those involved in the harassments will be punished for breaking the decree..."

"H-Has..." There was a moment of hesitation which caused Naruto to turn and face the one who had talked. "D-Does Orochimaru know what happened...?" 

"Heh... so _now_ you're scared..." mumbled Kiba under his breath.

"He's the kid's father, of course he is informed." The restlessness in the meeting hall was now perfectly tangible. Naruto felt sick that these people were more concerned about another possible threat rather than the well-being of a dying child. "So for all of our sakes... Pray for the child to be safe and for Orochimaru to not find out for what particular reason his son ended up in the hospital."

And with that Naruto left the meeting hall, followed by the others. Leaving behind restless clans whose voices soon started being heard in a mix of confusion but which Naruto refused to listen and completely ignored...


	16. Coping with the Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Mitsuki fell into a deep coma, with no hopes of waking up, it's time for Boruto and Sarada to deal with the pain caused by the wound their teammate left in their hearts. But are they the only ones dealing with pain?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooookay dear readers, first, before everything, I would like to tell you that we have a companion music with this chapter. Please get this song ready and start to listen to it when you read (Naruto OST - Shirohae) in bold;
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BWHG1eJ8fY

**[Boruto's P.O.V.]**  
  
I watched as a pair of curious blue eyes slowly rose up to the level of my empty gaze, and tried not to sigh at the seventh attempt of Hima to cheer me up. Giggling quietly and closing her eyes for a moment, my sister brought her hands to the sides of her face and stretched her cheeks while sticking her tongue out, making a face that would've been cute or funny in any other circumstances.  
  
As she studied my unchanged expression, a huge pout came onto Himawari's features. "Aw come on! This was different - I worked on it, too, y'know!"  
  
Again, in any other circumstances, say, if I was just back from a mission and was only really tired... I would still have attempted to put on a smile and try to encourage her, by telling her something like, "Way to go, squirt, I will teach you better next time." but... It felt like my mind wasn't entirely here right now.  
  
Which, to tell the truth... it wasn't.  
  
Seeing that I still didn't give any reaction, the look on her face saddened. "Onii-chan... I know you are sad about those jerks, and I am too..." I closed my eyes, this wasn't the best topic... "But you know what?" she perked up. "Next time we will beat them up together. And show Mitsu-nii how we want him he-"  
  
"It's alright, Himawari." I finally cut in, it was becoming harder to keep my control. "I-I'm just tired, okay? We will talk tomorrow."  
  
This resulted in her heaving a very deep sigh. "Alright, alright. But I'm not giving up until you begin smiling again."  
  
She got up and was about to turn back when I suddenly leaned forward and pulled her in a hug. I had caught her by surprise, but she was quick to return it, and I held on for dear life.  
  
I didn't bother telling her that I probably wouldn't be smiling for a long time.  
  
"You don't have to thank me for that," she said with a big grin when I finally let her go. "Good night, onii-chan."  
  
"Good night, Himawari." I whispered.  
  
As she walked out, I finally gave in and lied down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. When that got old, I turned to my left and pulled my knees to my chest, trying to forget... to not think of anything...  
  
It had not been long, I suppose, since me and Sarada were dragged out of the hospital, maybe a few hours if I had to guess... But it seemed so much longer...  
  
 _[Flashback]  
  
"Excuse me... papa... I don't think I really understand you..." Sarada whispered, her eyes wide, her expression that of shock...  
  
"I am here to take both of you home." Sasuke, on the other hand, was the perfect image of stoic calmness, his tone matter-of-fact, his eyes unrelenting.  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
"Over my dead body!" Boruto snapped finally, fists clenched and looking very... very furious. The older Uchiha turned to him with a frown.  
  
"There is no need to be dramatic."  
  
"Stuff it, uncle Sasuke, I'm not going anywhere!" the blond continued, not bothering to keep his voice down at all.  
  
"We can't leave him!" Sarada backed him up, but she was more collected, more like she was trying to reason with her father. "We promised... We are not gonna make him feel like he was abandoned again!"  
  
"But sweetie..." Sakura said with a sad expression. "You can't keep staying at the hospital."  
  
"Yes we can!" It was the first time the pink haired medic had seen such stubbornness in her daughter. "Who says otherwise?"  
  
"The hospital rules."  
  
"To hell with the rules!"  
  
"Boruto." Sasuke's voice had taken on a very dangerous tone. "You are not going to talk to me like this."  
  
"I can talk however I want! I'm not going anywhere! And I would love to see you force me to leave!!"  
  
...   
  
Uzumaki Boruto had one thing to admit: he had a big mouth.  
  
That did not mean that he was going to give up easily, though.  
  
Of course, it was no trouble at all for the Uchihas to grab the two pre-teens and head out. Naturally, aunt Sakura was gentler with it, so even though it took about twenty minutes to finally persuade her, she was relatively calm while being led out by her mother.  
  
On the other hand...  
  
"Let me go! I said let. me._ GO, _you shitty old man!!"  
  
Sasuke didn't say anything or give any reaction, he just kept dragging the blond behind him. Coming to the realization that digging his feet on the ground or tucking back as hard as he could wasn't going to help, Boruto looked his master up and down and found the perfect spot.  
  
It was not the pain of the kick (though it had been a hard one) that made the Uchiha stop - he had felt much worse in his time - it was the abruptness of it. He closed his eyes for a moment as if praying for patience before he turned back and knelt to the level of Boruto's eyesight.  
  
"Serves you right, 'ttebasa," the blond said spitefully.  
  
"We can do this the easy or the hard way." the threat was not light. "You are gonna have to cooperate."  
  
"Or what?"  
  
"Or you can enjoy your time out here. It's getting cold." He looked up at his wife, who sighed inaudibly.  
  
"I can't allow you back into the building, Boruto."  
  
"Fine. Leave me here for all I care." Jerking his arm away from the black haired man, Boruto slumped on the floor, crossing his legs and arms. "I'm not going anywhere until he wakes up."  
  
[End of Flashback]_  
  
I must have fallen asleep, because I don't remember how I was brought here. And I refused to talk to anyone after that.  
  
I felt my gaze blur... I failed in my promise to be by his side at any costs. And here I was, forced to stay in my room while I don't know what was going to happen in the next second...  
  
What a great friend I was.  
  
...  
  
 **[General P.O.V.]**  
  
Naruto looked up as he heard the door open.  
  
"Everything in order?" he asked in a tired voice which lacked the usual carefree tone he would normally etch in it.  
  
Hinata gave a small smile. "Yes... they both went to sleep." She stopped for a moment then, and her gaze drifted to the floor. "I just wish there was a way Boruto's sleep wouldn't be disturbed..."  
  
The man sighed. "Yeah... me too..."  
  
There was the sound of quiet footsteps and a shift on the bed as someone sat down on it. The blond then felt gentle hands placed on his shoulders.  
  
"Naruto, are you going to be alright...?" Hinata whispered sadly, squeezing his shoulders a little.  
  
At that, he closed his eyes, not sure how to answer for a moment. Then he nodded. "Yes... yes, I will manage..."  
  
...  
  
 _'Dammit... please make it in time...!' the hokage thought frantically, the horrific phrases ringing in his ears. He was trying to block out the terrible images rushing to his mind, to keep his focus, but it was hard.  
  
How low can someone get to attack a child...? To even go ahead and murder him in cold blood...?  
  
He noticed that suddenly, he didn't hear any of the others with him, and felt actually glad for that. As long as they were safe... as long as there weren't two more kids he needs to worry about... He couldn't lose focus, then he will have better chance at saving Mitsuki before it was too late.  
  
His blue eyes widened in surprise when he saw what looked like a figure being thrown against a tree. A small figure, he was almost sure it wasn't an adult... but then his sensors hit up and he felt it... Mitsuki's chakra! It was him!  
  
Frown deepening and teeth gritting, the Hokage quickened his pace to step in front of the fallen and hurt child before whoever was attacking him decided to strike again. And strike he did, the tall dark brown haired bastard, he had a kunai, a special long, extra sharp kunai held out in front of him as he approached the hokage and the child.   
  
Yelling out of pure frustration, Naruto grabbed the man's arm , squeezing it hard enough that he was sure the man's bones were breaking. Then he raised him up like he was a rag doll and threw him against a tree, just like what he did to Mitsuki, and heard a satisfying crunch which probably meant at least fractures.  
  
He then rushed to Mitsuki, only to see another, blond man, one he was sure he didn't see before, by his side, raising his foot as if to kick the fallen child. The hokage was seeing red by that time. He took the man down in no time at all, his rage burning.  
  
Mitsuki, who was trying to hold back the pain of the broken arm, slowly raised his head to see why no one else attacked him more. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw that it was no one else than the Hokage. He was there... he had gotten his message!  
  
In less than a second, the young blue haired boy felt himself being picked up, held tightly and safe in the arms of a warm presence. For a moment, Mitsuki closed his eyes, as in taking in the safe figure... he felt safe... then he opened them and looked up at the Hokage. "Lord Hokage..." he murmured.  
  
The hokage's fierce expression turned into a soft one as he looked at the brave, brave young boy in his arms. He closed his eyes for a second, letting the healing chakra flow through and beyond him, engulfing Mitsuki. He heard the boy gasp and opened his eyes with a smile, looking into the widened golden orbs. "That's right," he said in a gentle tone. "My time to protect the family after all. You are not alone..."  
  
Mitsuki felt his throat and eyes burn. His heart ached and seemed to skip a beat. The Hokage's warm presence was doing more than just healing him... it was reassuring his heart, that he hadn't realized had been emotionally damaged during that fight. "T-Thank you..." a tear rolled down his cheek.  
  
Naruto felt saddened as he saw the tear falling down on the boy's cheek, wondering the extent to which the people had hurt Mitsuki... the nins, the people in Konoha... He felt his compassion growing up inside, knowing only too well what the boy had gone through, regretting each second he had lost to act upon the villagers' hatred...   
  
"Mitsuki..." he said, his voice tight. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to stop this... You are needed, wanted in Konoha... You are important to us, too."  
  
"I can't..." the child started. "I can't be needed in a place... where I can't even protect the people important to me..." He thought of Boruto and how he had gotten hurt trying to defend him...  
  
And once again, the hokage was stunned by how this child carried such a burden on his shoulders. Was this really how he defined his place in the village...? This was too heavy, too cruel for just a boy his age... "Mitsuki..." he began. "Sometimes, you should let yourself be protected, too. You truly belong in Konoha, no less important than anyone."  
  
The child bit his lip. He didn't know how to counter that... how to convince the Hokage that as long as he stayed in Konoha, things would never be the same...  
  
But before he could even open his mouth to answer... Something caught his eye. The blond man with the lightning blade, aiming it at the Hokage's back...  
  
It all happened way too fast.  
  
Before Naruto could even register Mitsuki's breathing becoming hitched, his eyes widening as he looked at some point behind his back, the child yelled, "Lord seventh!!" and suddenly, he wasn't in his arms anymore.  
  
The hokage turned around frantically...  
  
Just in time to catch the boy falling back...  
  
And a huge, sword-sized bolt of lightning cutting through right where his heart is...  
  
Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at the blue haired boy, realizing then that... If it wasn't for Mitsuki... that blade would have gone through him...  
  
Blood... huge amount of blood escaped through the young boy's lips as he coughed and tried to breathe... but... it was so hard... He tried to say something but the words failed to come out, like they were stuck in his throat... "I..." that was all he managed to say.  
  
"No... no, no, no..." The light of the blade was fading, just like the light in the boy's eyes... Seeing him struggling to breathe, trembling with the pain that was too much, Naruto tried to hold back his emotions as he called forth his healing chakra again, he had to save the child! "Stay with me..." he mumbled, almost pleading, concentrating...  
  
It didn't work...  
  
"No..." the hokage tried once again, why - how could the damn thing not work?!  
  
"Boruto..." Mitsuki murmured before coughing more blood, his throat hurt so much, joining the pain in his chest. "Sorry... tell him... I'm... s-sorry..." The memory of his best friend and the promise he was about to fail to fulfill... made another tear roll down his eyes.  
  
Naruto was close to losing it altogether, his breathing was hitched, his eyes burning as tears of his own threatened to fall when he saw the boy shed another tear... "No, you will tell Boruto yourself, you'll make it..." his words jumbled together as he watched the boy's chest moving slowly. Mentally cursing, he tried to call for the chakra once again...   
  
This time, the chakra came back to him, only too slowly... He gritted his teeth, willing, forcing his powers to come back...  
  
Just when the red chakra burned brightly around him, he saw Mitsuki's chest stop moving altogether, and watched, his blue eyes widened and horrified, as the boy's head fell down to a side...  
  
He couldn't do anything... shocked into immobility as everything around them came to a standstill... No voices, no light, no nothing...  
  
Naruto gathered the child's body in his arms gently, as if afraid to hurt him even more, his hands shaking as he looked at his now lifeless face...  
  
"That was my responsibility..." he whispered, his voice broken and tight.  
  
He drew Mitsuki even closer to his chest, leaning forward as tears started falling down to his cheeks...  
  
...  
  
The scene changed too quickly, before he knew, Naruto was no longer in the forest and neither was Mitsuki's bloody body leaning against his chest.  
  
But he was still in the same position. Kneeling. Slowly he rose and looked around... white... he was at the hospital...  
  
‘Mitsuki...!' the Hokage snapped out of his thoughts about the boy when he heard the door next to him clicking open.  
  
From there came out a familiar figure. Sakura... But she had the saddest and reddest face he had ever seen... She had been crying, and not just a little.  
  
Before he had even registered what he was doing... As if it was not his mind that controlled his body but something else, he rushed towards her, although he almost tumbled down.  
  
'No, no, no...!' A frantic voice was screaming in his head, fogging any coherent thought. "Sakura-chan..." He mumbled, his voice tiny, so much so that he didn't know if she heard him.  
  
Sakura broke into a fit of new sobs, bringing her hands to her mouth, large tears splattering on them. Naruto didn't dare raise his head to look into the room...  
  
"He... His heart couldn't take any more..." He heard Sakura's voice, as if from too far away.  
  
She shook her head, she herself was still having a hard time believing the reality of what was happening but she had to bring herself to act like the medical ninja she was. So trying, hard, to control her sobs and tears, Sakura lowered her hand before speaking. "I'm sorry, Naruto..." she said. "Let's... let's just hope he is in a better place..."  
  
This... this was too much... It couldn't be...!  
  
Naruto walked right past Sakura, striding into the room, coming to a sudden stop...  
  
Everyone was there... The child was lying peacefully on the bed, free of the machines that connected him to this reality, to them...  
  
The hokage just watched, he forgot how to even breathe, how Hinata tried to pry Boruto away from the bed... His son was a complete wreck, he had been crying so hard that his eyes weren't even visible, shaking with the continuous sobs...  
  
And the young Uchiha, also crying and hiding most of her little body in her father's cloak... Sasuke was completely in silence and had his arm simply wrapped around his daughter's frame.   
  
Naruto watched, in horror and denial, how Tsunade slowly pulled up the white blanket until it covered Mitsuki's serene face...  
  
That... was the final blow...  
  
Naruto fell on his knees once again, his head bowing low as he started to softly cry himself, engulfed in the pain and sorrow of... losing... a child...   
  
How... How couldn't he stop this...? How could he let that happen...?  
  
"Lord seventh..." He heard a soft voice whisper, and his head immediately perked up...  
  
 **[(Naruto OST - Shirohae)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BWHG1eJ8fY) **  
  
They were no longer in the hospital. He didn't even know where they were... Everything, anything his eye could see to the horizon, was pure white...  
  
Mitsuki was standing right in front of him, a soft smile on his face. Naruto gasped as he raised a hand to touch the kid's shoulder... His hand went right through...  
  
He saw Mitsuki keep his soft smile as he shook his head. Silently telling the Hokage that he was nothing but... a spirit...  
  
"Lord Seventh..." his voice echoed through the space. "I have to go but... first... I want to thank you. For giving me a chance to live in your village... for allowing me to become a ninja... for allowing me to understand what friendship is and..." He closed his eyes and the smile widened. "For giving me a second family..."  
  
Naruto brought his hand over his mouth, tears fell down his face, and he actually felt himself trembling a little. "Don't thank me..." he whispered, his voice tight with the sobs. "I don't deserve it... I couldn't save you... You did nothing but love and protect the village and in return... All we caused you was grief and pain..."  
  
"I don't blame you or anyone." Mitsuki answered. "This was what destiny set it for me, it was my decision to leave and protect the village..." He sat in front of the Hokage. "Please...tell Boruto that I'm sorry for not keeping our promise... and don't let him grieve over me forever, he has to continue with life."  
  
"Mitsuki..." He was at a loss of words. The child was so honest, so pure that he felt the reality of this being the last time he would be seeing him was tearing him apart...  
  
"Be at peace..." He whispered brokenly, gazing at the child with a sad, sad look. "I will make sure Boruto moves on..." Somehow, he added in his mind, because he wasn't even sure how he himself was going to do just that.  
  
Mitsuki gave him one last, kind smile before his whole figure started becoming more and more transparent, until it vanished like thin air.  
  
He closed his eyes... Letting his agony take over as he wrapped his arms around his own body, just staying there and... existing..._  
  
...  
  
The man sat upright as his eyes opened to a darkened room. His breathing was hitched, and it took a while for him to understand someone was calling his name.  
  
"Naruto...!" he turned to his left and as his eyes adjusted, saw his wife watching him with a very worried expression.  
  
No words were needed between them - although Naruto didn't tell her about it, it wasn't hard for the woman to understand what was troubling her husband's sleep. The blond snuggled closer to Hinata and laid his head on her shoulder, and Hinata hugged him from around his waist. Naruto closed his eyes and felt tear after tear falling from them. Now that they were surrounded by concealing darkness, now that he didn't have to maintain a tough stance in front of the children or the villagers... he didn't hold back.  
  
Moments passed in silence, Hinata didn't say anything, she was just caressing his hair, letting him know that she was here...   
  
"I saw that I saved him..." she heard a mumble then, and she shifted only very slightly to look at him. "...that I was there in time..." His wife's hold tightened a little more with that. "But as soon as I save him, he... he..." He trailed away, closing his eyes tight as the images replayed in his head. "A Hokage is supposed to protect his people... It's not supposed to be the other way around... Especially not a child..." Silent sobs started rocking his body. He felt like he was rendered helpless once again, something he had not felt in a very long time, maybe not even since childhood...  
  
Hinata placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, closing her eyes. "Naruto..." she mused softly, brokenly. "...is there anything I can do to make you feel better...?"  
  
"Just... just hold me close..." the blond whispered, and Hinata did so, laying her chin on top of his head, allowing him to just wash the remnants of the nightmare away...  
  
...  
  
She wasn't really sure of how much time had passed. She had stopped caring some time ago, a long time ago... She wasn't sure. The only thing she knew was that it was dark outside. When they came back from the hospital... The sky was a lighter shade, so yeah... it should've been a while.  
  
She didn't remember what she had been doing during that time.  
  
So Sarada just sat there, her back to her wall, knees pulled up to herself, staring at her toes, and trying not to remember, well... anything.  
  
The deep silence was broken when the bedroom door opened, revealing her father's tall figure. "Sarada..." he called, but got no answer from the girl.  
  
Sasuke sighed inaudibly, this had been going on for a while... And the scariest part of all of it was that he didn't know - he practically had no idea how to comfort his little princess. So instead of feelings, he decided to tread on safe waters - facts.  
  
"It's been late." He said in his usual matter-of-fact tone, with worry tinting it. "You need to go to sleep."  
  
"I can't..." she murmured. "If I sleep I will just..." she gulped before continuing. "I will just see him... dying..."  
  
Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment when he heard his daughter's barely audible voice. Her words had triggered unwelcome memories from his past. How many times did he skip sleeping just so he wouldn't see Itachi's last smile plastered in front of his eyes...? Or scream loud enough so he wouldn't have to hear his voice...?  
  
Opening his eyes he walked into the room and sat on Sarada's bed. She didn't give any reaction. "I don't know much about that child..." he began, then paused for a moment. His next words were what he had been telling himself over the many decades. "He fought bravely to make sure we can sleep peacefully for another night. Don't let that be for nothing."  
  
Sarada didn't react for a moment... She closed her eyes before shaking her head... first slowly and then furiously. "No..." she murmured, at first it wasn't audible to Sasuke. "No, no, no I don't want him to be brave, I just want him to come back...!" She raised her head with widened, sad eyes. It made the Uchiha lose his voice for a moment, he didn't know what to tell her.  
  
So... he just scooted closer to her and pulled her in a hug, it would be what Sakura would do... "He is stubborn... and let's thank your mother's stubbornness too... it was a close call but... she won."  
  
"I..." Sarada closed her eyes for a moment, trying to control her shaking, but... it was no use... She snuggled closer to her father before opening her eyes, a distant look in the onyx orbs. "...I wish she was there from the beginning... What good was I...?" Her hands curled, her nails biting into her dad's arm. "Maybe it wouldn't have turned out this bad... I was useless... I did everything I could think of but in the end... I was useless..." Another tremor went through her body and she gulped, trying to not lose control.  
  
"Sarada..." he started. "It was destined to be this way... whether your mother had been there from the beginning or not..." He wasn't sure if he had chosen the right words to comfort her... he was trying but Sakura had always been better at this kind of stuff... "But you were not useless..."  
  
"I could've stopped this before it got this far... before he decided to leave the village... and for what...? Just so we wouldn't spoil the surprise..." It was as if she didn't hear Sasuke, her voice was almost a monotone. "When we found him... I-I was so shaken, I wasn't really concentrating... A-and w-when his h-heart st..." Her voice trailed off, she was breathless by now. "I... I just can't shake it off papa.... Nothing I did worked..."  
  
He didn't know what else to say... she was clearly suffering and he had no idea how to comfort her. What else could he do? What else could he say?   
  
"Sarada..." he started... but didn't finish. He just didn't know... "He is stubborn, you'll see..."  
  
"But what if he doesn't?! What if he _never_ wakes up?!"  
  
Instinct took over as the man put his hand on the girl's head and started stroking her hair, trying to calm her down, even if for a little. "Have some faith in him..." Before he knew it, his voice was soft... possibly softer than it had ever been. "He managed to come back even when it was... almost beyond your mother's control..."  
  
And that was when she just stopped... everything around her stopped... as her eyes widened in shock... She felt her throat getting dry, losing her voice... her chest tightening... so hard that she put her hand over it, trying to regain control of her emotions...   
  
She didn't know... _how close_ it had been...  
  
Sasuke immediately realized something was very, very wrong when he felt her daughter stiffening in his arms. Every cell in his body went into full alarm mode as he looked at Sarada, only to see her widened, frightened eyes. "Sarada?"  
  
"Papa, I..." Her words came out in a gasp, and she was clearly having difficulty in taking in another breath. "I-I can't breathe..."  
  
And he panicked, he really did. He put his arm on her shoulder and forced her to look at him.  
  
"Sarada look at me."  
  
She was shaking so badly now that her teeth were rattling. Images, voices, their first mission, the first time they went to hang out as a team, even their first interaction when she was at the cafe with Chocho... they all swam in her head, blurring her vision, making her gasps even more painful...   
  
Had they really... _really_ been so close to lose all these...?  
  
When she heard him, she tried to use her father's voice as an anchor and tried to focus on him, hard as it was...  
  
"Sarada... are you okay?" Sasuke asked slowly, making sure his daughter was back on her senses... he was glad to see her eyes move back to him...  
  
"We... we... n-nearly lost him... for real... forever..." she still wasn't making sense...  
  
"But he fought his way back." Sasuke said seriously, looking deeply in her eyes, just making sure he held her right there. "He is a strong boy. He won't give up." If he was anything like his father, he thought to himself with an inner smile, that word probably didn't even exist in his vocabulary.  
  
Sarada took a couple of deep breaths, she was coming back to herself... slowly...  
  
"He... he is... he is strong..." she mumbled.  
  
Sasuke nodded. "He is... and he'll be fine, you'll see."  
  
Sarada snuggled closer to her father as she felt herself getting calmer. She felt tears started to stain her cheeks, tears she didn't realize she was holding back... She didn't bother to stop them. "Papa... Stay with me, please..."  
  
Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment and touched his lips gently atop her head. "Always..."  
  
He watched his princess crying herself to sleep silently, caressing her hair...  
  
...  
  
 _They had been running away... yet again. Honestly, this was beginning to become a habit.  
  
"Got your back, Boruto," he heard Mitsuki call. He tried not to roll his eyes at the prospect of just how ridiculously easy the assignment initially was. It was supposed to be a C-rank, they were gonna re-claim (or re-steal, in Boruto's words) a huge sum of money that was stolen by thugs from a wealthy landlord from the land of fire. These weren't ninjas they were dealing with, so it shouldn't even be a sweat - but apparently, one of the thugs was a really talented fighter who was also quick with his sword work. So they had to act quicker - basically distract the guy while Sarada took the money.  
  
Getting to lose the guy was easier said than done, though.  
  
"This calls for drastic measures," Boruto shouted, and Mitsuki's eyes widened when he noticed the hand signs.   
  
"Not that jutsu?"  
  
"Yes that jutsu!" Boruto answered curtly before crying out. "Oiroke no jutsu!"  
  
Mitsuki shrugged then, and quickly completed the combination. 'Whatever rocks the boat,' he thought inwardly before shouting out loud. "Oiroke no jutsu!" Then he noticed where they were headed. "Bonita, look out!" he cried in a high-pitched, feminine voice.  
  
He didn't know whether it was his warning or the very-suddenly-made-up name that stopped his friend, but they came to a sudden halt in front of the famed waterfall of Konoha.  
  
"Bonita?" Boruto turned to look at him. "Seriously?" Then he stopped and a grin appeared on his face. "Hey, nice body. For the team's baby, that is."  
  
"Not bad yourself." Mitsuki said with a smirk, raising an eyebrow. They both turned back as they heard the bushes behind them rustle and the fighter stepped out of it.  
  
"Why you little..." The man stopped in his tracks. "Ladies?" he asked in a weird tone of voice, which was leagues away from what it was a minute ago.  
  
'Ugh...' Boruto groaned inwardly while trying to keep a straight face. "Wow, gosh, isn't it such a very hot day?" he chimed in what he hoped was an acceptable imitation of Mitsuki's former squeal.   
  
"Oooh, it is," the man said, his grin widening. "_Scorching, _if you know what I mean..."  
  
'Great,' Mitsuki thought as he resisted the urge to face palm. Of course, Boruto just had to say that. "What is it that you are looking for, dear sir?"  
  
The man immediately went back into business mode - or at least he tried to. "Two boys, one blond, one blue-haired. About this tall." He pointed with his hand to somewhere close to his waist.  
  
"Hey! I'm not that short!" Boruto shouted, at which point Mitsuki rammed his elbow into his ribs.  
  
"What?" the man asked, confused.  
  
"What h... she wanted to say is, yes, we did see two boys matching your description, just maybe they were a bit taller. I think they went that way, right, Bonbon-chan?"  
  
"Alright, this is too much. You don't see me calling you Mimi-kun, do you?"  
  
"Ah, but I thought you liked the name, especially that time when..."  
  
"What the hell is going on?" the man asked, even more baffled now.  
  
"Yeah, y'know what, you, Mimi, my friend, you are going down!"  
  
"Oh, please, Bonbon-chan, bring it on."  
  
Boruto never realized that he accidentally let go of the jutsu as he and Mitsuki jumped on each other - at least not until they heard the man let out an angry roar.  
  
"Why, you little critters, I'm gonna chop you to pieces!"  
  
Boruto saw his friend quickly eyeing their surroundings before yelling "Jump!" and put a hand to his chest to shove him back.  
  
_'Jump?'  
  
 _He lost his balance when he reached the edge of the cliff, flailed his arms wildly for a bit, then both him and Mitsuki tumbled down.  
  
...  
  
It was exhilarating!  
  
Boruto couldn't help but scream in excitement as they fell down some meters below into the river. The chilling water cut his breath on impact and for a while, stars danced in front of his eyes. Then he kicked up and burst through the surface, laughing joyously.  
  
"Haha, that was priceless, don't you agree?"  
  
There were no replies.  
  
Confused more than concerned, Boruto looked around. Where was Mitsuki? They had both jumped in... didn't they?  
  
Fear hit him at the possibility, and he immediately looked up... to see the clear blue sky from a minute ago completely changed into dark, grey and navy colored clouds, and they were closing in. A storm making its way through them.  
  
"Mitsuki!" he shouted, or he thought he had, but no sound came out. He gasped in shock, bringing his hand to his throat, but still nothing.  
  
Actually, it was eerily, completely silent. No one was atop the cliff. No one was around the shore. To think about it... he couldn't see the shore at all. The dull greyness seemed to stretch on forever, and it frankly freaked Boruto out. Alright, they had fallen to the water... Did Mitsuki not resurface? Was it even possible that he had been holding his breath for this long? Was it natural?  
  
He didn't wait any longer to ponder on that as he dived back in, the coldness of the water again bit at him, but this time, he didn't give it much care.   
  
Strangely, it was clearer underwater than it was above. It was still empty, but at least the blond could see clearer. "Mitsuki!" he called once again, and he heard his frightened voice rang through the oblivion. For some reason, he found it oddly comforting to be able to hear his own voice.   
  
There weren't any signs of his friend yet, and Boruto was slowly going into full panic-mode. This... this wasn't the way this mission was supposed to go, right? There was another outcome, this wasn't real... right?   
  
Maybe he was dreaming?  
  
He broke through the surface once again, his lungs rejoicing in the fresh air once again filling them. He brought his hand to his forehead to pull back some of his hair falling into his eyes and then looked up...  
  
_Red.  
  
 _He gasped as he turned around, and found a trail of red... A long, thin trail... An ugly color that didn't belong...  
  
He began swimming as fast as he can, following the trail, but it was as if he was swimming through tar, he was too slow... Too late...  
  
A lightning flashed high above, and Boruto almost came to a halt as an image flashed through his mind...   
  
...  
  
The... hospital...?  
  
The first person that registered was Sarada. Of course it had to be her, he would've noticed her anywhere, whether it be a lonely room or a crowded out place. She was... she was huddled on a bench, as far away from the crowd gathered in front of the glass window of the room as possible, in a fetus position, hugging her knees, trembling from head to toe. Was she...   
  
Crying...?  
  
Dread gripped his heart as he forced to look away from her to the people gathered and recognized them one by one... His father holding his mother in his arms, tears sliding down both their faces, his mother couldn't even look up, while Naruto seemed like he couldn't take his eyes off. He seemed to age on that very spot as he watched from behind the glass with a grief-stricken face. Lastly... he watched as Orochimaru's pale fingers grip the glass frame so hard that his knuckles turned white. His face could be regarded as emotionless from anyone else's point of view, but the blond saw deep lines of sorrow etched into the sannin's face.  
  
The next thing he knew, Boruto had pressed himself to the glass, the cold fear in his heart threatening to make it come to a stop.   
  
Sakura had bent over the bed. As she shifted slightly to kiss the person on the forehead, sobbing quietly but hardly, Boruto saw through her arm a glimpse of light blue hair, and his friend's... his best friend's pale, deathly pale skin...   
  
...  
  
"No..." Boruto gasped, out of breath as he tried to reach the place where the red was much thicker, and a tear rolled down his cheek. The cold pressed down on him, making his movements that much slower, but he kicked stubbornly, trying to make it over there faster. Another lightning flashed...  
  
...  
  
It was a rainy day.  
  
It was kind of like an unspoken tradition in the leaf village that whenever there was a sad event, like a funeral, there was rain.   
  
It felt so surreal, so out of place that he got to be standing here, in his black mourning clothes. It didn't feel like he was attending the last service of a friend, a very close friend, rather for a stranger. Because... this didn't happen... this couldn't happen, right?  
  
He took in his surroundings, looking at the faces of everyone gathered one by one. He realized he didn't know just how many people lived in Konoha - the place was practically overcrowded. From what he could see through the misty haze, guilt and grief ruled many, if not all of the expressions. He remembered how furious he was towards them when some of them wanted Mitsuki gone, the way they harassed him... But now he couldn't bring himself to feel that way.  
  
His friend wouldn't have wanted that.  
  
"He harbored a kind, unbreakable heart." his dad's words echoed back to him, like Naruto was standing at the end of a long tunnel. "He was just a child, yet he didn't hesitate to sacrifice his life for the village's safety. So here on this day, when we gather to honor him, I would like to say this... Mitsuki... this village shall never forget what you did, and we will not let your sacrifice be in vain."  
  
Naruto leaned forward to put a single white carnation on the coffin. That was then that Boruto saw the picture standing on the altar.  
  
It was when he looked at his friend's pale golden eyes, the eyes which would only look through lifeless photos from now on, that it started.  
  
His own tears mixed with the rain as he walked forward to put the red carnation he was holding on the coffin.  
  
...  
  
"MITSUKI!!!" Boruto screamed, turning around himself wildly, still not having seen his friend, his breath coming strained as rising panic brought him to near hysteria.  
  
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shape in the middle of all that ugly red color. Any and all kind of thoughts erased from his mind as he hastily swam there.  
  
Mitsuki was lying on his back on the water's surface, his body relaxed, his head tilted to one side. He could easily have been sleeping if not for the blood oozing from the several wounds across his body, and the fact that... his chest... was not moving at all...  
  
"Mitsu... ki...?" the blond whimpered, too shocked by the sight to utter anything else. He tried to lift his hands, to grab hold of him, to just be able to... do something... But his hands limply dropped to his sides as he just stared at the blue-haired boy, too terrified...  
  
...  
  
He didn't know just how much time has passed. Could've been days, weeks, months... Years... Or merely hours. He didn't care. Time has lost its meaning for him, really.  
  
He was standing in front of the K.I.A. monument. Like he had been doing so many times in the passing time.  
  
For some reason he was yet to understand, being here was actually... calming. He didn't know how to explain. Maybe he was content that he was returning to his friend after each mission. Or maybe... the place where it all ended.  
  
The setting sun shone on Mitsuki's name, although he didn't need the emphasis. His eyes were already glued to it, maybe a little selfishly ignoring the others.  
  
A bitter smile crossed his lips as his friend's face came into his view. "We've missed you..." he whispered softly, tracing his fingers on the smiling kanji.  
  
...  
  
Time regained its pace as movement returned to Boruto's muscles, and he leapt forward, grabbing and bringing Mitsuki's form closer.  
  
"Mitsuki!" he shouted, and tears came freely when his friend didn't respond in any form whatsoever. He desperately held the younger boy closer. "No! You're not gonna do this! You're not gonna do this to us, you idiot!" His head hung low as the silence continued, and he began sobbing. "Come back..."  
  
...  
  
This was supposed to be his happiest day.  
  
And he was happy, too... in a way, he supposed. Finally marrying with the woman of his dreams, the one who had accepted his hand in a life-long unity.   
  
But of course something... someone was missing... as surely as he did for the past decade.  
  
He tried to gulp as he gazed into the golden eyes of Mitsuki... in the photo.  
  
He sighed. "You know... I'm so angry with you right now. You were supposed to be the friggin' best man here. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get along with Shikadai, Inojin and Metal? Shikadai honestly didn't let me have a breath of fresh air."  
  
There was a moment of pause, and the look in his eyes saddened. "I did everything I know you would want me to go through... I lived my life... to the fullest. You were always there... somehow. And you will be here today, too."  
  
There was a knock on the door, and Himawari peeked in. "Onii-chan, we are ready..." She came to a halt as she understood what was keeping him...  
  
Boruto turned to face her with a small smile. "So am I. Hima... please take him to the reception."  
  
The young woman nodded mutely as she walked forward to take the frame in her arms...  
  
...  
  
He didn't know how long he stayed there crying, but suddenly, very clearly, he heard his voice. "Boruto."  
  
His head immediately snapped up.   
  
They were no longer in the water. It was some dark place... Actually, he couldn't see anything...  
  
But his friend standing right in front of him.  
  
The blond gasped in shock, making Mitsuki smile a bit. "It's gonna be alright." the blue haired boy said, his voice barely above a whisper.  
  
He wasn't sure what he meant.  
  
The younger then put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you..." he said softly, and his smile turned into a full-on grin. "...for everything."  
  
And Boruto watched, horrified, as Mitsuki's form relaxed and he fell forward to him. The blond immediately held his friend, his eyes widening as the younger completely slacked against him, his head lying on his shoulder, blood all over his body..._  
  
...  
  
It was gonna be a sleepless night. Naruto had already conceded to it.  
  
He was on the window sill, looking outside, a haunted look in his eyes. He wondered how the kid was doing right now, if he was going to be able to see the light of the day, like they would... And for the countless time in the past two days, he wished Mitsuki had just overlooked the rogue nins and they faced them in Konoha.  
  
An ear-piercing scream coming from his oldest's room snapped him out of his trance-like state. He saw Hinata jolt up from the bed, immediately alert herself.  
  
"Boruto!" she gasped, and they were out of the room.  
  
Boruto's screams of agony rang throughout the house and it was really hard to listen to it. The pain in it was so much that it was almost as if he was physically hurt. It was enhanced by the fact that Boruto had never... ever let them see what he deemed as weakness - just a sign showing how he was really affected.  
  
When they reached the door of his room, they found out that Himawari was already there. "Onii-chan!" she was calling through the door, banging her small fists on it. "Onii-chan, what's wrong?"  
  
"Naruto, take her!" Hinata called to her husband, who gulped and nodded, grabbing Hima around her middle and carrying her away. Hinata then opened the door to his son's room and rushed inside.  
  
Boruto was thrashing around in his bed, the covers all tangled over his body, and he was screaming at the top of his lungs, although his eyes were still closed. Tears were streaming down his face as he whimpered, soaking the pillow and the bed sheet.  
  
"No! Please... Don't go... Don't leave us..."  
  
He sobbed hard, and continued to moan and cry in a soft voice. Hinata brought her hand to her mouth to contain her sobs, her heart breaking as she watched her son break down.  
  
After the initial shock, she walked over to his bed and sat down next to him, pulling her whimpering son close to her. "Ssh... It's gonna be okay, baby, ssh..."  
  
"Please come back...!" Boruto whispered once again, his hands reaching forward to reach out to his friend who was not there.  
  
...  
  
Naruto laid Himawari down on her bed and sat down next to her as he looked into his daughter's widened, tear-filled eyes.  
  
"Papa... What's wrong with Onii-chan?" Hima asked in a tiny voice, clearly frightened. "I... I never heard him like that..."  
  
"I know, baby," Naruto sighed as he pulled her closer to him. "I know..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment, it's extremely important to us!
> 
> For this chapter, there were some images that we found (not drawn by us) and inspired us greatly for this chapter:  
> http://sta.sh/01uqoocjl8ro  
> http://sta.sh/013hav7lex93  
> http://sta.sh/0npesvubom0  
> http://sta.sh/027aztwadum3


	17. Saudade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone struggles to turn back to somewhat of a normal life in Konoha, but even with everything, harassments against Mitsuki seems to be far from coming to an end. In the meantime, Naruto and his officiants have their hands full with dealing with the prisoners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Saudade:** A Portuguese word meaning deeply missing someone or something. As this story is a multi-national collab, we are thinking about using different words from various languages for chapter titles whenever they are fit :) So don't be surprised if you came across a word from your language ^*^

_..._

_It had been a long day in the lab, and he really, really didn't have any energy or will to deal with anything else at the moment - which was saying something, seeing that he was an immortal. Ironic that right now, he felt like he could drop dead with fatigue._

_And it was just his luck that the Taka were all out on some errands._

_He turned on the light as he entered his room, and was surprised to hear a small squeak. His eyes searching for the source of the voice, he noticed a fit of tousled blue hair poking out of the comforters and sighed. "Mitsuki?" he said in an exasperated tone._

_Little by little, the toddler peeked out of the blankets, allowing his eyes and nose out only. "Daddy...?" his childish voice sounded in the room. His big, round golden eyes were shining, showing the sannin that the child had most likely been crying or at least whimpering._

_The sannin sighed again. He could handle anything - be it a potentially dangerous lab experiment, a threat... He even got used to his son pulling - what was it that Suigetsu said - puppy eyes at him but when the toddler cried, which was not very often, he didn't know what to do. "What is it?"_

_Mitsuki frowned, the sad look still there "I had a nightmare..." he whispered before adverting his eyes from his father, it had not been the first time he had a nightmare and each time his father had always told him he had to be tough... But this one had really, really scared him... "I couldn't go back to sleep..."_

_The look in the older man's eyes hardened slightly. In the years he had spent with the boy, five years to be exact, he was still not sure how he defined his parental role - something Karin always dropped in snark remarks about, how by this rate, he will only get to learn it when Mitsuki was no longer there. In any case, intimate contact was off limits, and the toddler knew that perfectly. The sannin had never been the one who comforted the child out of a nightmare._

_Just his luck..._

_"You can't stay here." He said bluntly, not harshly but enough to get the meaning through. "I'm tired, I need to sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow."_

_"But I can't go back to sleep..." the already childish voice sounded even more childish now. It would only be a matter of time before he pulled out the puppy eyes trick. He was even already pushing out his lower lip in a pout. "I promise I'll be quiet, I'll let you sleep..."_

_The man raised an eyebrow, not buying. "No." He said curtly, finding it only very slightly amusing that the child had already begun the usual drill which worked on his subordinates. Such interesting creatures indeed, children. "Come on, I'll take you to your bed." Well, at least he could do that much. Without giving the little one a chance to reply, he strode over to the bed and picked him up, striding out of the room._

_Mitsuki remained quiet the whole way back to his room. He had failed to have his father fall for his typical trick..._

_Orochimaru set him back on his bed and covered him with the warm blankets. Turning off the light, the Sannin closed his son's bedroom door... but as soon as he did it... Mitsuki threw the blankets and sheets away and made his way off his bed._

_The sannin yawned as he entered the room. He didn't even notice the soft patter of footsteps._

_When he opened his eyes... The boy was peeking at him from the bed once again, only his eyes visible, watching his father carefully._

_"A no is a no, child. You can't stay here." Once again he picked the boy, carrying him over to his room. He thought for a minute whether or not to lock the door, but that would probably be pushing it too far. Even he knew not to lock in a frightened toddler, after all._

_But... luck certainly hated him that night._

_As he again made his way back to his room, this time he made sure to look back a few times to make sure Mitsuki wasn't following him. No sign of him. Good. He hoped he had learned to take a no for an answer._

_But as he opened the door again... there he was, peeking outside of his bed._

_The sannin couldn't believe his eyes. Had his son learned some sort of teleportation technique? At the age of just five? Although he had to be quite the prodigy - scratch that - a miracle to be able to do that._

_Then he noticed a slight opening on the wall behind the bed, and his eyes narrowed a little._

_Using his own tricks against him, huh? The kid was intelligent._

_He looked into the golden eyes, his eyes, as the child just gazed up at him innocently. Maybe too innocently. "You are not gonna give up, are you?"_

_Mitsuki uncovered his mouth that had been hiding behind the warm blanket and gave his father a big smile and the cutest look he could do. "Can I stay...?"_

_By this point, he had begun wondering what the point was. It was just one night... The child could just sleep by his side, cuddling, of course, out of the question._

_"Fine. Just for this once..." He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the toddler had already fallen fast asleep. Was that really all he waited for? Just reassurance?_

_Such interesting creatures, indeed._

_..._

_He didn't really expect to wake up to find himself... almost in a peaceful state of mind. Content, relaxed..._

_Feeling a small bundle pressed against him, he looked down..._

_Only to find his son cuddled in his arms, sleeping soundly._

_His unconscious mind was certain that it wasn't just the child who cuddled to him. He had been guilty in that too._

_After a moment of hesitation, he slowly raised his hand and put it on Mitsuki's hair, rubbing his head gently, careful not to wake him up._

_He didn't need to see that. This was just enough..._

_..._

He hadn't realized that he had fallen asleep...

As he opened his eyes to the darkened room, almost instinctively... The sannin's arms reached forward, as if to once again hold on to the child...

But all he managed to grab was thin air.

Sighing, Orochimaru brought a hand over his eyes. It would turn out that Karin wasn't really wrong about her predicament after all...

...

Boruto mumbled to himself, trying to protect his eyes from the onslaught of sunlight through the opening in the curtains. For a moment, he blinked in the blinding light, trying to remember...

His eyes shot wide open as he did.

He tried to straighten up immediately, but his body felt so heavy... he couldn't even move a muscle. He only noticed someone was beside him when the person finally moved.

"Boruto...?"

Tears started falling from the blond's eyes as he recognized his mother's voice, and the warmth, concern in it... It spoke to the warm side of him, the side that yearned for reassurance...

Straightening up slightly, Hinata was quick to take her son in her arms. "It's gonna be okay, baby... It was just a dream..."

"M-mom..." his voice came out trembling. "S-something happened... I know it, I can feel it... We need to go to the hospital..."

"Boruto..." the woman said gently, her eyes sad. "You just had a nightmare..."

"No, mom, it wasn't just a nightmare!" his voice had become panicky. "He thanked me, he was saying goodbye, and I swear, h-he..."

"Boruto, we would be informed..."

"No they wouldn't!" the blond's voice had finally risen. "Do you _seriously_ believe they would just announce this over a _phone call_? Please, let's just go..."

"But sweetie, it's just six am..."

"I don't care!"

"How about we do it like this?" came a voice from the doorway and both the mother and the son turned over to see Naruto, who raised up his cell phone to show it to his son. "I will call your aunt Sakura and check on with her."

Boruto gulped, it was apparent that he wanted to say something... But he just nodded, not looking into either of their eyes. With this, Naruto touched the screen of his phone a few times before putting it up to his ear.

"Hello? Sakura-chan, good morning." There was a pause. "Yeah, I called to ask if there were any changes with Mitsuki...?" The pauses felt way too long for the child, he was basically trying with all his might to not jump from the bed and walk right over to his dad right now. "I see... yeah... yeah, Boruto had a nightmare too..." he sighed. "Yeah, okay. Thank you very much. See you later."

Boruto didn't lose a second as soon as the call ended. "Well?"

"He is okay, Boruto." He was looking squarely in his eyes now, so that he could see his sincerity. "He is sleeping. And of course, you can visit him any time after nine am."

"But..."

"Please, Boruto..." Naruto sounded really tired. "Trust me on this one. You will see him, but not this early..."

"You promise...?" the young blond asked, and his voice sounded so tiny, so scared... Naruto closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them and taking big steps into the room, finally sitting down on the bed and placing his hands on his shoulders. "I promise." he said. "Please... try to rest for a while."

The boy finally nodded meekly and snuggled closer to his mother, who pulled the blanket over him. The hokage was just about to get out of the room when Boruto's voice stopped him.

"Dad...?" He turned to look at his son. "Can you come home early... just for today...? Please...?"

He didn't even have to think. He nodded with a soft smile. "I will."

...

Himawari was wearing her sandals to get out, her mind still on her older brother and his screams... But she was too scared to ask... too scared of what she might find out...

"Himawari?"

She turned to look at her mother, her wide, blue eyes curious. "Yeah mama?"

Hinata came to stand in front of her, and put her hand on her young daughter's shoulders. "Can you please take your brother out so he gets some fresh air too? It would really do him some good..."

The young girl nodded solemnly. "I will, mama. I will take care of onii-chan." she smiled brightly.

"I know you will." her mother said with a soft smile. "Listen, Hima... your brother is going through a very hard time... so we have to stick together and show him that we are always here for him, okay?"

"Like his guardian angel."

Hinata laughed light-heartedly and ruffled her hair. "Like his guardian angel. So it is your task to protect him with all the positiveness you have."

"I will." the six year old said again, and without further ado, she had taken off her sandals and was rushing back into the house, calling for Boruto. Hinata just kept gazing after her for a while...

...

"And you know what was even better? Auntie told me it was okay that I knocked out that stupid little boy!"

When her brother didn't give any kind of reaction, Himawari pouted. She had been hoping that if anything, at least they could bond over their furiosity about her ignorant friends. Normally, her brother wouldn't miss that chance and would talk and laugh with her, even if to just humor her...

"Onii-chan..." she tried again. "You have training today, don't you? Can I come over and watch too?"

Again, he didn't say or do anything. The girl huffed.

"I threw away your favorite t-shirt because I splashed ketchup all over it. On purpose." Silence... "And I actually killed that boy and buried him in the backyard. Don't tell mom and dad, okay?"

Maybe it was her non-sense blabbering, but Boruto finally managed to utter a barely audible, "What...?"

"It's about time!"

"Himawari..."

"Did you hear about two nights before?"

It was then... when they heard the distinct voice that Boruto finally reacted. His head turned to the direction of the voice, causing his sister to follow his gaze.

"Yeah, I heard he was pretty beat up."

"Not just that, man, I heard he almost died."

"Tch... I knew he was a coward but being _THAT_ weak on top of it..."

"What are you talking about?!" with that voice, the talking group turned back to look at them.

Seeing her brother's blank expression turning into an agitated one, and how his hands, which were now in fists, were shaking, the young girl couldn't keep it under control anymore.

Some of the children in the group took a step back. "Okay, let's move it. It's them..."

"No." Boruto's voice was harsh and devoid of emotions. "You got something to say? Get over with it."

There was a moment of silence.

"Our condolences." One of them finally said smirking, clearly mocking him. Some of those in the group snickered.

That almost... almost did it for the blond... But the presence of his younger sister forced him to gulp down his anger. "Mind your own business..."

That seemed to have surprised them. "What is it? Not feeling much up to defend your weak, no-good friend?"

"You are not even worth the time I spend here."

"Oh yeah? Sorry we keep you from running to your girlfriend. I heard there was no ho-"

BAM!

A loud, slamming noise cut into their taunting and even the Uzumaki siblings had to turn around to see who the newcomer was.

Nara Shikayo, Shikadai's younger sister, supported her elbow on her fan and leaned on it a bit, dislike highly apparent on her features as she glared at the group.

"Are you really sure you want to complete that sentence? Next time I won't be this lenient."

Standing next to her was Yamanaka Inochi, Inojin's sister and her best friend. She looked at the Uzumaki siblings. "You guys okay?"

"Yes we are." Himawari said, glaring at the group of bullies herself.

"Are you telling me that you, the almighty son of Hokage, are hiding behind some girls now?" said a boy with wavy black hair and brown eyes, his voice dripping of sarcasm.

Before any of them said anything else, there was a blur of color and a sudden swishing sound. The boy looked at Inochi with big, surprised eyes while she returned back to his friends.

"I would watch out for my pants if I were you." the girl said haughtily.

Not sure of what she meant, the boy glanced down for a moment and, blushing furiously, bent down quickly to gather up his pants - and the cut-through belt. With a smirk, Inochi put her short sword back in its sheath.

"We might be just girls, but these girls will kick your..." she tilted her head to a side, "smiley-covered ass."

If that was possible, the black haired boy blushed even more, while it was clear that those around him were trying their best not to burst out laughing. "C'mon, we are going back."

"Aww, are you being intimidated by some girls now?" the Yamanaka cooed, mocking him.

"Come back anytime for more, cutie." Shikayo said, winking.

Grumbling, the boy led his friends away. "Some of those Sarutobi jerks... I swear I can't stand them." the Nara declared.

"Thank you." Himawari said politely to the older girls. "We... Onii-chan...?"

Boruto had started walking away in the opposite direction. At his sister's voice, he stopped for a moment, then slowly turned back. "I'm sorry... She's right, thank you..."

"Boruto..." Shikayo started with a concerned expression. "I heard from my dad... I'm so sorry about-"

"Shikayo." Boruto didn't say anything else, but the momentary flickering of his eyes to Himawari told the brown eyed girl what he didn't convey. She sighed.

"Yeah... We just wanted you to know that we are all here."

"Ditto." Inochi said with a small smile.

The blond also gave them the ghost of a smile before he turned and started walking away. After a moment of pause, Himawari started following him.

...

"Mama?"

Hearing Himawari's voice, Hinata turned around to face her daughter, and did a double take. She knew her daughter was concerned about Boruto, but her expression now was something more than concern, something close to... being frightened...

"Yes dear?"

"What is wrong... with everyone? Onii-chan wouldn't tell me anything... but we came across some bullies and they told him some mean things..."

The woman tensed at her daughter's words. "What kind of things?"

Himawari took a deep breath, then looked directly into her eyes. "Who is in the hospital?"

The woman felt her heart skip a beat. The look in her eyes saddened. "Sweetie, it's nothing you have to worry about..."

"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore!" the young girl said stubbornly, puffing out her cheeks. "Those kids were saying some bad things, so I thought they were talking about some terrible person but that wouldn't explain why onii-chan is so sad all the time! He even skipped training..."

"Their sensei cancelled the training this morning..." the woman said, avoiding her question.

But Himawari was a clever child, she had always been... her eyes turned sad too as she looked at her mother. "Mom... is it about Mitsu-nii?"

Hinata sighed. "You will know when it's the right time..."

"But aunt Hanabi told me that too! When is the right time?" she asked again, and her tone was becoming impatient. "Just tell me..."

"Please, baby. Not now."

"Was he sick? Is he gonna be alright?"

"Himawari." Her tone was not harsh, but it was clear that she was finishing the conversation then and there. Hurt despite herself, Himawari grumbled a "Fine!" and turned her back to go.

It didn't matter. She would find out anyway.

...

No one gave him a second glance as he walked into the hospital.

Boruto was very quiet as he made his way into his friend's room. There were no medics inside, which really suited him more than he could admit...

He closed the door without a sound, as if he was afraid to make a noise, afraid to disturb his friend... He almost laughed at the idea. Since when had he been such a considerate person? If he was to be honest with himself, he had always been the brattiest, the one and only trouble maker... Of course Sarada was there to put him in line from time to time, but it was very seldom that he would listen to her. Most of the times, it turned into a competition before they knew it. No, the one person who was always able to curb his sometimes insane tendencies was Mitsuki...

He tried not to gulp, trying to force his emotions back down, and after a minute, held his head high.

"I know what you would say if you saw me right now." he said defiantly, managing to control the trembling. "What am I doing here, right? I shouldn't be so worried, I shouldn't come and go as I please... I shouldn't let some people get to me so easily..." His hand had unconsciously turned into a fist. "Huh... because you are one to talk... I keep telling you that you shouldn't listen to those morons... l-look how it ended up..." He closed his eyes and turned his head to a side, teeth gritted... No matter how hard he tried... It hurt... It hurt so much...

After a minute... he opened his eyes and brushed the back of his hand over them. "I'm not even here for this... I just wanted to tell you..." His gaze drifted back to his friend. "Look... Mitsuki... You can't leave us, okay...? I know that it might not seem like this right now, but... lots of people would miss you..." His voice started failing. "I-I mean... you're my best friend, you can't leave me like this...! Who would I tell about my pranks if you weren't around...? No one else listens to me like you do..." That was when he couldn't hold it any longer... "So... you baka... you better hold on in there and don't give up on me... Because I'll never forgive you if you do..." He started shaking as more tears rolled down. "And I'll kick your soul's ass back into your body if I have to..."

He was tired... he was tired to play the big, tough boy who wouldn't be fazed by anything... He just... wanted, needed this breakdown...

He didn't hear the slow opening of the door behind him as he walked forward to the bed, hand reaching forward to gently hold on to the blue haired boy's hand. "Just... please wake up already... We all need you so much..."

Before he can even finish, he heard a loud gasp behind and turned around abruptly... 

His world pretty much came to a stop when he saw his younger sister, her eyes widened and a frightened and sad look in them... looking past him towards the bed... The blond felt his pulse quickening and his breath turning into gasps as he just stood there, at a loss of what to do or say...

"Wh-wha..." the younger Uzumaki began, then gulped as tears filled into her eyes. "What happened to Mitsu-nii...?"

Boruto was surprised that he still somehow managed to find his voice. "Himawari..." he began feebly.

"Why is he like this? Who did this to him?!" her voice was becoming hysteric, and the elder felt even more lost as he just didn't know what to say... how to comfort her...

"Boruto? Himawari?"

At that moment, he was sure he had never been more grateful in his entire life to have heard another voice.

Sakura was on the doorway and was looking at them with something akin to... sympathy? pity? The blond felt the need to explain himself. "I-I didn't know she followed me..."

Sakura sighed before she started walking inside. "I can see that..."

"Aunt Sakura...?" Himawari mumbled in a tiny voice, to which the pink haired medic gave her a soft smile.

"It's gonna be alright, Himawari. Mitsuki is just sleeping for now, he just needed rest for a while..."

"But why... what happened to him...?"

The soft look in her eyes intensified as the woman's eyes drifted towards the unconscious child. "He had been a very, very brave boy... He protected all of us from some really bad people, but unfortunately, they hurt him..."

"Didn't anyone help him...?"

Boruto gulped at her question, he had to look away... the Uchiha was silent for a moment too.

"I'm sorry sweetie... His voice didn't reach us... And so we couldn't reach him in time..."

The young girl had started shaking, no matter how Sakura tried to ease her up to this, it was still hard for her... "Is..." she started, and gulped again. "Is it possible... that my voice reach him...?"

With her warm smile still in place, the medic walked over to her and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Well... he is not gonna be able to reply to you but... yes, he can hear you."

The young Uzumaki grew very quiet as her eyes drifted once again to Mitsuki. Slowly and without a sound, she approached the bed. Standing on tiptoes, her fingers curled on the bedsheets before she looked back to Sakura. "Can I...?"

"Of course, dear." Picking her up, the Uchiha put the little girl on the bed, careful about helping her avoid stepping on the boy.

Seeing him up close... Himawari indeed started crying. "Mitsu-nii..." she whispered, before reaching out to hold his hand.

"Aunt Sakura says you will hear me..." she began, her voice quivering. "So I just want you to know... We all love you so much... And it will be... very lonely without you around..." She started shaking with the sobs. "So please... wake up soon, okay...? I will fight anyone who is badmouthing you in that time..." She wiped her eyes. "Just please... please come back to us...!"

Leaning forward carefully, she placed a gentle kiss on the cheek of him. "Mom told me that kisses have healing powers..."

"I'm sure it'll help his healing process," Sakura said with a smile, then looked at Boruto. "Boruto, can you please take your sister back home? It's not healthy for her to be here much longer."

The young blond gulped and nodded. "Let's go, Hima." His younger sister nodded and slid back down from the bed. "You heard her, Mitsuki..." he said, looking back at his friend. "We are all waiting for you, so you better hurry up... And you better not make my sister cry again, you jerk."

Even Hima had to smile a little when she heard that. She walked over to her brother, and together they walked out, hand in hand.

...

It had been a long day in the office. Aside from the daily businesses of the village, Naruto and his advisors had discussed the situation of the two sound prisoners. Since he was arriving later in the night, Darui was to deal with Hiraku, but what with Oto being an... unofficial village... there were many debates on what their fates would be. The hokage had left the office as soon as the trial dates were decided.

He was not going back on his word to Boruto.

Before he noticed, he found himself in front of their home. The house was dark aside from the light in the living room. As he climbed the stairs, the porch light turned on too.

Hinata opened the door to him, a genuine but tired smile on her face. "Naruto..."

Naruto hugged her with one arm and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "How is everything?"

Hinata's gaze drifted downwards as she sighed. This made her husband frown a little. "What is it?"

"It's just... Himawari..." The woman heaved another deep sigh before looking up into his eyes. "She followed Boruto into the hospital today..."

The man's eyes widened before a sad look settled in them. "Oh no..."

"She tries to play it down, mostly for the sake of Boruto..." Hinata couldn't help a small smile at that... sometimes, she couldn't tell which one of her children were the oldest. "But of course, she is shaken..."

"Of course..." Naruto sighed himself before pulling himself away. "I will visit her first..."

And without further ado, he started walking towards his daughter's room. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he pushed the door open.

There was a quick movement under the blanket, and the blond couldn't help but chuckle lightly. He walked over to the bed and sat near the head, next to the bulk in it. "Who is the little rodent here?"

The answer was immediate, like it always was when they played this game. "I'm not a rodent!"

"But little girls should be sleeping at this hour..."

"I am sleeping..." came the voice, and the man couldn't hold back his laughter this time. At that, finally his daughter lowered the blankets to look at him.

His smile turned a little sad when he saw her reddened eyes. "Himawari..."

The youngest Uzumaki smiled tenderly, genuinely happy to see him. "Welcome home, daddy."

She scooted a little over so her dad could come in more, taking her in his arms. "So I heard you caused a little mischief today..." he said lightly, and heard her sniffling.

"I couldn't stand seeing onii-chan so sad all the time... I wanted to know why he was..." There was a pause, and Himawari gulped before she asked her next question, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Papa... Is... Is Mitsu-nii gonna die...?"

Her father's arms wrapped around her more tightly. "No... No Hima, he is strong, he will be back..."

The girl raised a hand to wipe her eyes. "Aunt Sakura and mama said so too... But onii-chan is so sad..."

Naruto nodded. "It is not easy to see our loved ones like that... But we have to keep believing in them and pray, with all our might, for them to be okay... Alright?"

Hima nodded too and a little smile appeared on her face. "I do. I will always be there for onii-chan and Mitsu-nii."

Naruto put his hand over her head and stroke her hair a bit before kissing the top of her head. "I know you will." Then he slowly got up from the bed, putting the covers over his daughter. "But for that, you will need your strength. So you need to go to sleep."

"Yep." the young girl smiled warmly at him. "I will. Good night, daddy."

"Good night, Himawari." he said, smiling himself.

Now was the hardest part...

Naruto stood for a while in front of his son's door, gathering his courage. Knowing that he was probably not asleep yet and he wouldn't appreciate it if he didn't, he knocked on the door before opening.

Just as he thought, Boruto was lying spread-eagled on his bed, his eyes wide open. His head turned to the door when he heard it open. "Dad...?"

Naruto smiled at him. "How are you, champ?"

The younger blond stared at him for a moment. "It's been a while since you called me that... Back when..."

"...you won your first sparring match in the academy."

Boruto smiled a little too. "Mom couldn't come because of Hima... You were there to watch me..."

The man took the few steps to the bed. "As I will always be." he pulled the covers over his son. "And you will always be my champion."

"You know, I'm not a little kid anymore." the boy said with a bit of a pout, but it was clear that he was also enjoying himself. That made Naruto chuckle a little before ruffling his son's hair.

"I know. Now go to sleep."

He was about to get out when Boruto's voice stopped him. "Dad...?"

He turned back, curiosity in his eyes. "Yeah?"

"You should visit Hima too... S-she followed me to the hospital today..."

Naruto felt pride filling his chest... thinking of how his children were always so protective to each other... "I already did. She is going to be fine... She is strong, just like you."

The young boy's smile was genuine. "Thank you, dad..."

With that, Naruto walked out and gently closed the door behind him.

...

The evening turned into a chilling night as the train made its way into the station and came to a stop on squeaking wheels.

The doors opened and first came out jounin ranked ninjas, eyes alert, positions rigid. Naruto and Shikamaru stepped forward as finally, a dark skinned man descended the steps.

"Lord Raikage..." Shikamaru said with a small bow.

The man inclined his head towards him in acknowledgement before turning his gaze on Naruto, and both the kages gazed at each other with grim expressions.

"Welcome to Konoha, Darui." Naruto said at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, we introduce a few characters in this story :D Two of them, Nara Shikayo and Yamanaka Inochi are Eleanor-Devil 's characters :) A third, the boy who had his... smileys shown xD Who I didn't name in this chapter but is in actual Sarutobi Ichiro, belongs to me, mirage-05 :)


	18. Tale of the Cousins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The true story behind the Kumo rogue nins is revealed as Naruto and Darui came to the conclusion to hold a gokage meeting.

_'Come on, you numbskull. Are you just gonna stay here and sulk over it for all eternity?!'_

_'Sulk over?! You just killed all of our family and you say I'm sulking?!'_

_'Let me clear up one thing, I didn't, we did. Now man up a little and follow me if you don't want those tracker ninjas to hunt you down.'_

Hiraku's eyes opened to the blinding sunlight that was seeping through the prison bars. Sitting up on the bench and rubbing his eyes, it took a while for his thoughts to stop spinning.

Why did he have such a dream right now...?

...

Hearing a knock on his door, Naruto looked up as a jounin opened the door.

"Lord seventh, lord Raikage is asking for your audience."

Hearing this, the blond got up on his feet. "Allow him in."

In the next minute Darui came in, followed by a guard. The guard gave a respected bow to Naruto before retreating back out. The door closed behind him.

The two kages looked at one another before Naruto finally indicated to a seat. "Please, have a seat."

As soon as he did, the raikage didn't waste a moment to speak. "Naruto, this is serious. We need to call for a gokage meeting as soon as possible."

Naruto nodded. "Yes, I'm planning that, too. Until this time, we didn't even know the Sound was planning something... and if they search the assistance of rogue ninjas..."

"They can be a threat for any village at any time." the raikage completed. "Especially since considering... the fragile conditions some of the villages are in." He was silent for a minute. "What I don't understand is... why...? Why would the Sound make a move like this, when we haven't heard from   
them for so long?"

"There are still many details left in the shadows... But you know how the village was originally found by Orochimaru?"

"One of those legendary sannins who turned mad and killed one of the previous hokages? Yeah, I do remember the story..."

"Well, after he was defeated, Otogakure was left in ruins. We didn't know what happened to those people afterwards... But apparently, from what we gathered, they wanted revenge on the one person who ruined their lives."

Darui nodded. "What better way than to attack his former village and make it look like it was the sannin who did it?"

"Indeed." Naruto stopped for a moment. "What is their story?"

"Goro and Hiraku? They had become rogue ninjas long before I became raikage, but they had caused an extremely disgusting crime that was well known in Kumo for a long time..."

...

_A small boy, possibly at the age of four or five, was running through a large, lush garden. He was visibly edgy, his eyes huge, panting..._

_'Stop it, Goro! My parents are coming, they are so not going to like it!'_

_'Ah, you are always worrying too much.' Some cracking noises accompanied the carefree voice. 'They are gonna be long gone before uncle or aunt reaches here.'_

_Hiraku's widened eyes found the little fire protected by stones - Goro was a clever boy, even at his young age at seven. He wasn't the one to let the flames spread and draw even more attention to what he was doing._

_The carcasses of what looked like two bunnies, as a whole, were lying in the heart of the fire..._

...

Although as long as three decades had passed, he still couldn't forget the foul smell... And those barely noticeable, beady eyes... Seemingly looking up at him with sorrow and reproach, trying to ask him why, why were they subjected to such a torture...? 

And he never quite forgave himself for not speaking up, not telling his parents or anyone about this, for covering up with Goro, burying the bunnies, even when on the verge of throwing up...

But that had always been his way... Always covering for his cousin's mistakes... no, that wasn't even the word. For his madness...

...

"They were cousins." Darui continued after a sigh. "Not first-degree, but the families were very close..."

"You talk like you knew them very well?"

"Well... in a place like Kumo, you do know the families - especially big families like that. And I was especially interested in the rogue ninjas back then. I have knowledge to rival those of our hunter nins."

Naruto nodded, this kind of devotion was something they both shared. 

"From what I gathered, Goro... he was a child psycho from the beginning. He loved to set things on fire and watch them burn - a pyromaniac, if you will. When he got bored of seeing things unmoving while he incinerated them, well..."

The raikage didn't complete his sentence, but the direction of his words and the somewhat queasy look on his face was enough.

"But of course, that was interpreted as childhood mistakes... a passing thing... But that in itself was a mistake..."

...

_'Come on... don't tell me you really believed that I would let go of you that easily after what you did?'_

_The children that were put in the wooden hut looked terrified... The door and the windows were barred, with only a very small hole in the wood for them to look at the smirking face of Goro._

_'We know jutsu too, y'know,' said one of the kids boldly. 'We will get out of here easily, and then you will...'_

_Goro tsk tsked, clearly enjoying himself. 'Now now, none of that, or didn't you hear me earlier?' He brought his face closer to the hole. 'You are going to pay for telling on me, don't go making things even worse for yourself. And besides... Do you take me for a fool? Dig all you want under that soil,  
you will only reach rocks. And wood release is only a blood line limit ability you suckers would never even dream of having, so...'_

_He came to an abrupt stop as the kid directly behind the hole spat on his face. The blond drew back for a moment and for that split second, a disgusted expression took over his features, but he was quick to get rid of it._

_'As I was saying,' he continued non-chalantly, as if nothing happened. 'You wouldn't only be hard-pressed to leave this rat-hole... But now that you managed to enrage me, I'm gonna make it ten times worse!'_

_Spinning around quickly, a small bolt of lightning flew from Goro's hand, small but effective in getting through the hole, hitting the boy who spat at him right in the eye. Screaming in agony, the boy clasped his hands on his right eye and fell backwards, his friends immediately surrounding him._

_'Any more smart mouthing?' the young psycho asked, grinning like a madman._

_His cousin, who had been frozen to his spot in terror, decided to rush forward then and held his arm, quite painfully. 'Goro, that's more than enough! You scared them, now let them go!'_

_'Let them go?' Goro barked out a laugh, rounding on Hiraku. 'After all these? So they can go and babble on us more? You must be stupid if you think I would even consider that, Hiraku.'_

_'Are you out of your mind?' his cousin yelled, a little... surprised that he was still questioning that. 'This is called murder!'_

_'Hmm?' Goro brought a finger under his chin in a fake thoughtful manner, his brows furrowed. 'Murder, huh...? I like the sound of it.'_

_Finally having had enough, Hiraku drew out his sword with a low growl. True, Goro was older and stronger than him, but he wasn't going to just idly stand by! 'This is where this madness ends!'_

_This earned him another laugh in the face. 'Oh come on... As if you can ever hope to beat me.'_

_In response, his cousin only raised the sword higher. 'We will see about that.'_

_And so they clashed, all the while the children in the hut were watching them in terror and expectation. The difference between their strength was indeed formidable, though, as the older cousin soon pushed Hiraku to the wooden wall of the hut, his kunai at his throat._

_'You want to die with them so badly?' he pretty much spat in his face, earning himself a scoff._

_'You won't kill me. I'm your only friend.'_

_'You want to push your luck, prick?'_

_'Try me.'_

_'Well... maybe I will.'_

_With a mighty push, Goro made Hiraku slam into the wall, hard, and before he could do anything else, took out another kunai and threw the sharp objects at him. While being pinned to the wood, Hiraku managed in the last minute not to drop his sword._

_'Have fun roasting, cousin.' Goro's voice held no mercy... no emotion at all..._

_Hearing the crackling sound of fire, the younger's attention was immediately drawn to the hole, which wasn't too far away from where he was pinned. Indeed, flames had begun incinerating the wood..._

_Snapping his head back to yell at his cousin, he was shocked to see that he was already gone._

_'Help!' one of the boys called from the inside. 'Help us!'_

_Trying to think clear... Hiraku did the one thing that made sense. 'Stand back!' he called to the children inside, and using some of his wind chakra, he raised the sword into the air._

_The next moment, the blade had embedded itself through the planks. Using all of the strength he could muster, Hiraku tried using the sword to remove the plank..._

...

Unconsciously, his hand went to his shoulder It had been years... But the burn scar that the incident left was still there, a mark of his naivety and foolishness...

Well, at least it had opened his eyes... even though for a while...

...

"It was then that Hiraku finally snapped... The kids inside the hut barely got away with their lives, and that boy he hit in the eye with lightning... He had to quit his ninja life because of that." 

Naruto was silent for a moment. "I don't understand... How did he end up with him like this?"

Darui himself waited for a moment, as if to gather his thoughts. "Well... that incident was shortly before the third world war... In which Hiraku experienced something that would forever leave a scar in his soul..."

...

_Hiraku was hiding behind a huge wall, using the reflectiveness of his kunai to check whether an enemy was approaching. His platoon wore a piece of white on their uniforms, from the chest area and up, and so they knew whenever someone approached without such a thing... it was more than likely an enemy._

_From across him, he watched as one of his platoon members raised the thumb of his left hand and draw a cross in the air with it, with one leg of the cross being shorter._

_Simple. Ally._

_Relaxing their positions a little, the group peeked behind where they were hidden at the man who was approaching them in a slow trod. That struck as weird to them... This was war... everyone was in a rush as a general rule..._

_'What is the position in the village?' their troop leader asked when the ninja came close enough. There was a moment of silence, which caused the leader to bark out his next order._

_'Answer me, soldier!'_

_The harsh tone of his voice had seemed to snap the man out of it. 'The whole village was destroyed, sir.' he said simply, holding up his posture. 'No signs of life remaining.'_

_Only with the efficiency of years of training and wars with other countries, the group reacted to the news with stoic, almost mechanical expressions._

_'Alright, here is how this is gonna work,' the leader finally said crisply. 'Hiraku, Ken'ichi, Juro, you go first and check out the houses. There might still be traps. We will scout the area and check for a safe route out of here.'_

_Wordlessly, the three ninjas started marching forward. This was going to be quick, just in case the enemy had left them a parting gift._

_Shrouded in silence, their steps took them into the houses, where they were indeed met with grisly scenes. War was never easy on anyone, and this small village had the misfortune to stand in its destructive path._

_Just when he was about to exit the third house he had checked, a barely audible moan caught Hiraku's attention and he turned back... to see a feeble movement from the heap of bodies in the main hall._

_His heart skipped a beat._

_'Captain! We have a survivor here!'_

_Without waiting for a reply, he hurried over to the figure in front of him. His heart weighed even more when he saw it was... just a child... maybe not even older than ten..._

_'Please... help...' the child mumbled weakly, his head lolling from side to side._

_'It's going to be alright, we are here to help you...' the young man said, trying to soothe the child._

_Just then, he heard the captain's voice outside. 'Hiraku! Report what's going on in there!'_

_What procedures required him to do was to get up and walk out for a small briefing - but as soon as he tried to, a small hand clasped on his wrist._

_'Please...' hearing the pleading voice, Hiraku turned to look back at the boy. 'Please... don't leave me...'_

_'It's going to be alright.' he repeated, trying to gulp down the knot in his throat. 'I'm not gonna be out for long, okay? I'll be right back...'_

_'No... please...' A tear rolled down the child's cheek. 'I'm so afraid...'_

_'It's over now. You are in safe hands, we won't let anything else happen to you.' Gently, he tried to pry his hand away from his arm._

_'Don't leave me...' the child whispered again, and it was the hardest few seconds for him to take the few steps to the door._

_Once he was out, he was immediately approached by their captain. 'Soldier, wha...'_

_Before he could complete his sentence, there was a huge explosion coming from inside the house, shaking the whole ground and breaking the windows, causing them to drop down to the ground..._

...

"Turns out that it was indeed a trap," Darui said, his voice grim. "That child was put under a strong genjutsu... it was set to trigger a bomb that was placed underneath his body thirty seconds after he gained consciousness..."

The hokage opened his mouth as if to say something... but there were really no words. The world in which they lived was cruel, no matter how they tried their very best to make it safer for the younger. War conditions or not... a child's death was nothing to be normalized, nothing to get used to...

Darui was looking at him carefully, apparently measuring his next words. "He blamed himself after it... a lot. From what I gathered from the people that were close to him back then... when he returned after the war ended, he didn't want to leave behind any regrets... And that's why he paid Goro what he   
thought was a last visit."

...

_'I must warn you,' the guardian was saying as Hiraku walked beside him in steady steps. 'He is... not in his right mind. Ask me, he's losing it.' There was a momentary pause. 'Not that he doesn't deserve it.'_

_The blond chose to remain in silence as he moved, trying to focus his thoughts on one thing and one thing only, to not lose his control..._

_This was just temporary... it wasn't like he was going to see Goro anymore after this. This was just final._

_The heavy metal door squeaked open in front of them. Before he could raise his head, though... a weak voice made him stop in his tracks._

_'Hiraku...?'_

_It wasn't just the fact that his cousin, the one who had tried to kill him just a few years ago, was addressing him... His voice, his tone... was nothing like how it was supposed to be... It wasn't the strong, sneering, cocky tone which taunted him in front of the burning hut... It was as if that of a  
child, cornered, frightened, quivering..._

_Finally he raised his head to look at him, and almost flinched at what he saw._

_His physique didn't betray his voice. It was as if the older man was melting on the spot... His whole image was sunken, hunched onto the table in front of him, he looked extremely thin, his clothes were dangling from his body, and his face... was probably the worst of it all... It resembled more of a  
skull than a human face, and when their eyes met, Hiraku saw that there was no semblance of life in them._

_The guardian looked sideways at him, and he only then realized that he didn't even move an inch. 'We will wait right here, within some distance-'_

_'Can...' Hiraku was surprised to hear that his voice came out in a whisper, almost as weak as his cousin's. 'Can you just leave us alone for a moment?'_

_'You do realize...'_

_'I do.' he said curtly. 'I take full responsibility.'_

_The guard half-shrugged before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him._

_Goro was twirling his fingers, counting beats of a song silently as Hiraku lowered himself down to the chair across him. He immediately lunged forward, as if to grab onto Hiraku's hands, but the younger man quickly jerked back, which caused Goro to slump his shoulders._

_'I should've known,' he mumbled, his gaze on the metal table. 'Not even mama wanted to see me... I'm surprised you did... It's been ages...'_

_The almost... too casual way he suddenly adopted in speaking rekindled the flame of hate and resent inside him, and the younger's eyes took on a steely look._

_'What were you expecting?' he nearly spat out between his teeth. 'That I would come running to you and we would be best friends again?!'_

_'No! No, no...' he kept mumbling to himself, he really seemed to be on the edge of it..._

_'I'm gonna make this very short.' Hiraku said, mainly keeping his calm. 'I just wanted to see how you were doing...'_

_'How I am doing...?' his cousin snorted out a short laugh, nodding absent-mindedly, once, twice... 'Dunno, cousin, you tell me... How do I look?'_

_He watched his shaking hands for a while before answering. 'Terrible. Forgive me for not having sympathy.'_

_'I have my redemption!' Goro cried out, about ready to jump up from his chair again, and from the corner of his eyes, Hiraku saw the guard inching closer to the glass of the room. 'I know what I did was wrong and by God I swear, I have my redemption!'_

_'This is not for you to decide.' the younger was still an image of stoicism._

_'You don't understand! They're killing me here!'_

_'I don't see how.'_

_'No, no... it's driving me insane... it's been so long since I talked to another person...' He grabbed his head with his hands, swaying from side to side. 'I'd rather die than live like this for another half-decade...' A moan was beginning to build in his throat, and the shaking got even worse. 'Please... I just can't... Please don't leave me...'_

_Hearing that last phrase, Hiraku was frozen to his spot. 'W... what did you just say...?'_

_'Don't leave me here!' His voice had risen, as well as himself... on his feet. Hiraku stumbled backwards, causing the chair to fall back. His cousin was in front of him in a second, kneeling, and managed to grab hold of his hands this time. He was too shocked to pull back. 'Please... I'm gonna die here...! Take me with you, don't leave me!'_

_He had started sobbing by the time the doors were opened and no less than three guards stormed in. Hiraku was short of breath as they dragged a still very distraught Goro away from him._

_Was... it really possible?_

_Was Goro really gonna die here...?_

_Yeah, he hated him, but not as much as to... wish him to die..._

_But this was a secure place, and surely, no matter how the guards might hate him, they wouldn't let him die..._

_Would they...?_

_The guard who brought him here in the first place knelt in front of him. 'Sir, it might be better for you to leave now.'_

_Not being able to talk, Hiraku conceded to just nod._

...

That... had been the worst mistake of his life.

He took full responsibility... Not even a month after that, he had pledged to the authorities for the release of his cousin, who had already been in that damned institution for five years, assuming full responsibility for his actions.

He had believed, even when there was so little evidence of it, that Goro could change...

Turning back to look at it now, it seemed easier to believe that he was just biding his time, playing nice...

His parents had argued with him, calling him naive, his father had even gone so far as to claim he couldn't come back to their house if Goro was let out.

How he wished he had listened to him back then... he would still have them...

His family was the first who Goro took his anger on...

...

_He was running._

_Or rather, it would be more accurate to say, he was trying to make his way through the burning house, the debris, falling pieces of the roof..._

_'Mom!' Hiraku cried out loud, his voice hoarse with the smoke. He coughed once. 'Dad!'_

_A moan came from one of the rooms. The blond rushed over there and kicked the door open._

_There he was... His father was lying on the floor, face down, sooth covering all of his body. His movements were weak, and it hurt him not to know for how long he had been there, suffering, suffocating..._

_He immediately knelt beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. A stickiness on it caught his attention, and he gasped when he turned it over to see blood. 'Dad!'_

_The old man turned his head sideways and when he caught a glance of him, he flinched, trying to pull himself away. 'Stay away from me!'_

_These words, this behavior cut wounds in Hiraku deeper than anything ever could. He tried to support his father, to pull him off the ground, but even in his older and weaker state, his old man was putting up a very good fight. 'Come on... we gotta get out of here...'_

_'No... I'm not coming anywhere with you...'_

_The younger stopped altogether, froze, to just gape at him. 'Dad, this is no time.'_

_'Don't call me dad,' the man said, steel in his raspy voice. 'I'm no dad of a coward, a naive fool. I'd rather die right here with my honor still intact.'_

_'Dad, please, we can talk about this when we're safely out of here...'_

_'There is no tomorrow for me anymore. Your mom is already departed.' With a huge shove, the old man managed to hurl Hiraku off himself. 'Go. Go and live like the coward you are.'_

_Fire rumbled around them, destroying everything in its path, reflecting the wreckage that was the younger man's heart._

_..._

_'What... What have you done...? Why...?'_

_'My masterpiece. Now no one stands in my way...'_

_'You... you are demented...!'_

_'Come on, you numbskull. Are you just gonna stay here and sulk over it for all eternity?'_

_'Sulk over?! You just killed all of our family and you say I'm sulking?!'_

_'Let me clear up one thing, I didn't, we did. Now man up a little and follow me if you don't want those tracker ninjas to hunt you down.'_

...

"Dinner time!" 

Hearing the clanking on the prison bars, Hiraku barely spared a glance at the guard. "I'm not hungry."

"I don't give a damn about you being hungry, you can starve to death for all I care. But it's gonna be a long travel to Kumo and I doubt if Lord Raikage would want you to kick the bucket before you reach there."

This caught the man's attention. "Lord Raikage is here?"

The guard seized him up and down, discontempt in his eyes. "I don't imagine why he himself would come for the likes of you, but apparently, yes."

In the cell next to him, Takeru sprung to his feet, clinging to the bars. "What about me?!"

As the ninja turned to him, the dislike in his eyes turned to open hostility. "You can enjoy your time rotting in here, since you have no legal country to take you back." His tone made it clear that he was hoping for something much worse than rotting in a cell would befall him. He showed the meal tray from under the bars. "If I were you, I would only be grateful that the kid is still fighting for his life."

Hiraku's heart skipped a beat as he himself took a step towards the bars. "He is...?"

The guard didn't say anything, but looked over him for a second before turning back to leave. Relaxed, Hiraku slumped and a small smile lifted the corners of his lips.

At least something good came his way today...

...

It was a serene night at the hospital. The staff was just quietly minding their own business, nurses going in and coming out of the rooms, checking on the patients.

Sakura herself was about to complete her examination on Mitsuki. There were no changes in the boy's state... granted, given the grave wounds, it was no wonder.

Looking at him, her mind couldn't help but drift back to Boruto and Sarada, how hard it had been to take them out just yesterday...

Hearing a knock on the door, she turned to it as it slid open. "Na..." when she saw he wasn't alone, she immediately snapped back to formal mode and bowed slightly, surprised to see the second presence. "Lord Hokage... Lord Raikage..."

Both men nodded in silence. There were no words for a while as Sakura finally finished the examination on the young boy. The two men heard her sigh, though that hadn't been what she wanted.

"Any changes, Sakura...?" Naruto seemed hesitant to ask, as if fearing the answer.

The pink haired woman shook her head and couldn't help but caress the boy's soft blue hair. "No changes... but then again, those were very severe wounds. He needs time to heal." she turned to them and bowed again. "Excuse me, I must go."

The two men nodded again and she left the room.

"This..." Darui started after a while. "This was the boy that defeated Toroi back in the exams." he couldn't help but chuckle at the memory.

Naruto felt a small smile forming on his face, although it was fleeting. "Toroi... that big boy with a huge shuriken on his back? Then yeah... he was Mitsuki's opponent."

"I remember..." There was amusement in the Raikage's voice. "...he had beaten him in one strike." 

_[Flashback]_

_The third match of the third round of the Chuunin exams was about to begin._

_It didn't escape Darui's attention that the Konoha genin... Mitsuki had taken his place as soon as his name appeared on the screen, not waiting the proctor to call it out loud._

_His opponent, however, was taking his time. The Raikage tried not to sigh as he watched Toroi almost... timidly walked into the arena. The kid could become very nervous in a fight. One of his insecurities was speed, because him being overweight was a hindrance. Really, if he was to be honest, his biggest game was the huge shuriken on his back._

_Rock Lee came in the middle of the arena. He raised his right arm and pointed to Mitsuki. "On my right stands Mitsuki of Konohagakure. On my left stands Toroi of Kumogakure. You know the rules." he took some steps backwards. "Start!"_

_But none of the boys moved, Mitsuki was analyzing Toroi carefully, everyone could see that but nobody was understanding why none of the boys were moving._

_"C-Come on..." Toroi spoke then, and his voice showed just how unsure he was. "W-Why aren't you fighting?"_

_A big smile formed on the blue haired boy's face, one that obviously creeped Toroi out and even made him gulp nervously. "Why aren't you fighting either?"_

_Toroi was sweating... "I..."_

_"Come on. I'll give you one chance." The smile grew sly as Mitsuki squinted a little, and finally leaned forward in an attack pose. "Come at me with everything you got."_

_Gritting his teeth, the Kumo genin reached for the shuriken on his back, unfastening it with a quick move and started running towards his opponent. As he got close enough, he threw the shuriken at him._

_Without losing his composure, without even doing more than a simple thrust of his body backwards, the blue haired boy avoided the shuriken. His golden eyes then locked on Toroi, who had now taken out a kunai, the look in his eyes unnerved... although he was trying, hard, to conceal it._

_Just before he reached him, Mitsuki casually jumped into the air and using Toroi's shoulder as leverage, he turned and brought his hand in a quick move to the boy's neck._

_Stumbling, the Kumo genin lost his balance and fell forward, on his face, out cold. Hearing a whizzing noise, Mitsuki thrust his hand in the air, catching the oncoming shuriken in the middle._

_There was a long silence... people were staring, stunned, at the blue haired boy... how he didn't even use any bit of his chakra to defeat that opponent that, well... was supposedly strong enough to have reached the last round of the Chuunin exams..._

_Then slowly, among the cheers of his teammates and of someone else that they couldn't really identify, more and more cheers came from the public._

_Rock Lee stepped out of his stunned moment and walked towards Mitsuki. Reaching for his right arm, the man raised it high in the air, the smile still on the young boy's face. "The winner is Mitsuki of Konohagakure!"_

_[End of Flashback]_

Darui was still looking wondrously at the unconscious child lying before them. "I have realized that day that he has to be a strong one... But this..."

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, painfully... "It almost came at a very high prize..."

"Don't lose your heart, Naruto." The copper skinned man took a couple of steps forward, approaching the bed. "Goro... he is a beast not even some of the jounins can stand up. For a genin to face him all by himself and survive..." A fond look came into his eyes. "My bets are that he is going to be fine... in   
time. You will see."

Naruto sighed, his hopes weren't that high... he didn't dare... but he knew he had to stay strong... for his son... and for everyone that believed in him and in this boy...

"I hope so..."

To the Raikage, it was all too clear, how his friend was suffering... Hearing the entire story from him, it wasn't hard for him relate... It was always saddening to lose even experienced jounins on a mission... but a genin... a child this young...

"Hang in there, Mitsuki." he said softly, looking at the boy's face. "We are all rooting for you." 

And with that, he turned back to face his friend. "I believe it's time for us to leave."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A collab fanfic between me and my friend (Eleanor-Devil), there are illustrations for the chapters of the fanfic that can be found here:  
> http://eleanor-devil.tumblr.com/tagged/sacrifices  
> http://eleanor-devil.deviantart.com/gallery/52397191/Naruto


	19. The Ruined Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations are made to celebrate Boruto's thirteenth birthday - a birthday the blond doesn't want to celebrate at all. Can anyone change his mind or is this day doomed to be gloomy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome, dear readers, on another chapter of our next gen story :) This time we include all of the canon Konoha next gen. They are all equally important to us and none of them will be left out during the course of either this or the following stories (especially Happuden ^^). Of course... they all have their own personalities, some of them might came out harsh, but... well, that's where we gotta develop them, right? xD

The day was supposed to be a happy one... but... of course due to recent circumstances it was everything but a happy day... and even less when the person for whom this day was supposed to be special... simply refused to celebrate.  
  
"I don't want a birthday party, I don't want to celebrate anything, I _DON'T_ care it's my friggin' birthday! Just leave me alone!" yelled Boruto as he stomped away from his family.  
  
That's right, it was the Hokage's eldest child's thirteenth birthday, but Boruto didn't want to celebrate anything at all... not when his best friend was in the fragile condition he was.  
  
The blond shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket and kicked a small rock that went stumbling away, crashing a few times against the floor before coming to a stop. "How can they even ask me to celebrate anything..." he mumbled as he continued walking. But then his eyes softened a little... deep down he knew that his family wasn't trying to be mean or anything like that... they had just thought that perhaps a party would have cheered him up...  
  
But he also knew that no party, no celebration would make this better... What would it mean if one of the most important persons in his life was not going to be there...?  
  
He hunched a little, walking aimlessly, just following his steps wherever they take him. They had no training, so he spent most of his free time - and he had many right now - either worrying out of his mind about his friend or trying to find a way to get him to... Well he didn't tell this latter to anyone, because he didn't want anyone to jump on him and say it would be no use, that it was all up to Mitsuki right now...  
  
He felt a pang in his heart. How was he doing right now...?  
  
He heard someone call his name, and just out of instinct, looked up.  
  
"Hi..." It was the InoShikaCho trio approaching, and it had been Inojin who spoke. "Uh, hap..." He was cut in by a look from the blond.  
  
"Please, just don't..." Boruto mumbled.  
  
Inojin looked surprised for a moment but a look at his childhood friend's eyes and he understood why he didn't want to be congratulated on his special day. He heard Shikadai sigh and looked to see his teammate shaking his head, it looked like a disapproving shake but Boruto hadn't seem to have noticed it... or if he had, he was being quite good at hiding it.  
  
"Hey, you guys." another voice joined them.  
  
The group turned around to see Metal approaching them. This time, before he could even get a word out, Boruto cut in. "Guys, I... appreciate, but I'm not gonna celebrate this day. I can't. So please... Don't wish me..." He couldn't even get that word out. How could this day be happy? "I just... gotta go now... See you around when today is over."  
  
And with that he just left, again all alone...  
  
And also left behind really worried friends.  
  
Inojin sighed. "This can't go on like this... this whole situation isn't just affecting Boruto but Sarada too."  
  
"Well what do you want to do? Force them to smile?" asked Chocho as she ate another chip.  
  
"No but I also don't want to leave them depressed..."  
  
"Inojin is right, there has to be something we can do," said Metal.  
  
Inojin thought about it for a moment, then sighed again.  
  
"Chocho, why don't you go check on Sarada, see if she needs anything else, besides a little morale... And we should go find Boruto, too."  
  
"What? Why me...?" Chocho asked, suddenly very awkward. "I don't even know what to tell her..."  
  
"You're her best friend, you'll figure out something."  
  
And with that the boys left, leaving behind a sweating Akimichi.  
  
...  
  
"Oh man..." she mumbled before turning on her heels and going to look for her friend. "Where would she be anyway..." She thought of any possibilities of where  her black haired friend would be. Lucky for her, she didn't have to look much for she found Sarada sitting down on the training camp, under the shadow of a tree.  
  
The position she was immediately gave away how down the girl was, which made Chocho sweat even more... knees pulled up against her chest and arms wrapped around them, head in between the arms and face hidden from everyone.  
  
Sighing, the Akimichi climbed down the stairs and approached her friend... she didn't say anything... She just... sat down, right next to her while chewing on a chip. Trying to figure out what to say or do.  
  
"Hey Sarada..." she finally said. "Um...chips?" She extended the package towards the black haired girl.  
  
Today... was the day. The day they were supposed to throw what seemed back then like a very childish party to the girl. Her eyes brimmed with tears, remembering how her friend had said they were children, supposed to enjoy while they're at it...  
  
_'Make it count...'_ Mitsuki's voice echoed in her head, reciting the last sentence of the letter he had written. She wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to do that...  
  
Just when she was thinking about all these, suddenly a bag of chips were thrust under her nose, and she turned her head only a little to see her best friend, Chocho there. She just looked at her for a second before turning her gaze back to her hands. "No... Thanks..."  
  
Sighing, Chocho retracted the bag and chewed a few more while thinking of what she should say... She didn't particularly knew much about Mitsuki, despite the continuous teasing she did while saying that he wanted to confess to her. She just knew that he had moved to Konoha about a year ago, that he and Boruto were best friends and always hung out together... well, pretty much what everyone knew.  
  
"Look um... I'm... sure that he would want you to smile... I mean that's how he was right? Always smiling somehow..."  
  
Her friend's words made the Uchiha did a double take, and she started shaking a little, although she tried to control it the best she can. "Please... Chocho..." She mumbled in a broken voice. "Please don't talk about him like he's already gone..."  
  
She knew Chocho didn't mean it that way, that she was trying to talk to her but... Her words just made her remember the times he saw Mitsuki smile... He was indeed carefree most of the time, enjoying what he had more than any of them ever did...  
  
Why... why did it have to be him...? Whatever did he do to deserve this...?  
  
Her arms tightened a little more around her legs, the vision of his friend's last smile on the hospital bed suddenly flashing in front of her eyes...  
  
Chocho indeed noticed her friend starting to shake. Shoot, she had said it wrong... she really didn't know what else to say considering that the subject was so... touchy.  
  
"Uh..." she started while looking down. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that..." she sighed one more time before looking at her shaking friend.  
  
She bit the inside of her cheek before scooting closer to the Uchiha and wrapping an arm around her. "Look I'm... not good at this stuff but... I'm here okay...? If you... want to talk..."  
  
She didn't even realize how much she needed someone at this time... Even if just to cry on her shoulder... Before she knew it, she had completely turned to the girl, throwing her arms around her and burying her head on her shoulder as tears begin to escape her eyes.  
  
"All I can see... All I can remember now is him... dying right in front of me..." She managed to say in between the sobs, words tumbling on each other in her desperation to let it all out. "I wasn't able to do anything... It didn't work... I just... I..." she couldn't complete her sentence as she completely broke down.  
  
"There there... you know it's not your fault, Sarada. You did everything you could." Chocho managed to say those words after her friend broke down on her shoulder. "He'll be okay... he is a strong kid, right...? He'll be okay..." Even though she wasn't sure of those words...  
  
...  
  
Boruto had just wandered into a kid's playground and he had no idea of how he came there, but it wasn't like it really mattered. It wasn't like he cared at all. He walked over to the swings, sitting on one of them and just staying there, not even moving a little to swing.  
  
How simple... how untouched would things have been if they were just small kids?  
  
"Boruto..." he heard someone calling for him but he didn't look up, lacking the energy to even give a reply.  
  
"Boruto..." the second voice came. "We know you're down because of what happened but... we're your friends too, and we want to help." There was a moment of hesitation. "Please don't push us away..." He recognized that voice as Metal's.  
  
But he still didn't look up.  
  
"Tch... you are just being a drag..."  
  
Boruto's hands tightened a little more on the swing's ropes, but he still didn't say anything, still didn't look up.  
  
That person wasn't about to give up though. "You act like you're crying over a girlfriend who dumped you. Get a hold on, already."  
  
"Shikadai!" Inojin exclaimed unbelievably, turning to look at his friend.  
  
Boruto finally looked up, directly in Shikadai's eyes, fire burning in his own. "Shut the hell up. What do you know?"  
  
Shikadai's teal eyes were hard and cold, just like his mothers were when she was very serious. "I know that you are being a cry baby, Boruto," he said. "Life has to move on! What if he doesn't wake up? What if he  stays forever in that hospital bed? Are you going to be depressed over him for the rest of your life?"  
  
Images of the nightmare he had nights ago returned to Boruto's mind.  
  
"Do you think he would want you to be like this? All depressed, making others around you feel depressed as well?"  
  
Boruto closed his eyes for a moment, as he felt himself shaking a little. "What do I know what he wants...? He is not here to tell me..." He didn't care about what Shikadai just said, how was he supposed to know how the life would move on? Before he knew it, his bitter side was taking over, and although he knew deep down that his friends were only worried for him, it was unfortunately directed to them. "You don't have to hang around if you feel depressed... doesn't look like it will pass away."  
  
This time it was not Shikadai talking, Metal did while frowning. "Do you think we're going to leave when you need us most? What kind of friends would we be if we did that?"  
  
Boruto didn't say anything to it but he felt Inojin walking up and kneeling down in front of him.  
  
"We don't have to celebrate anything if you don't want to but... if it makes you feel better, we can all go visit him. We're here for you, Boruto... like Metal said, we are your friends too and if you need someone, we're here..."  
  
"You don't know how it was like..." the blond mumbled, staring at the ground. "To have him dying in my arms... Life leaving his eyes as he bleed out... His..." He squeezed his eyes shut, trembling hard. "When his heart stopped... I can't keep these images out of my head... I don't know what to do if he doesn't..." He couldn't finish his sentence.  
  
And he didn't need to finish... because Inojin pulled him in a hug that slowly gathered the other two boys too.  
  
"It will be okay, he will be okay. He is strong and we all know it..."  
  
Boruto just broke down right there and then. Sobbing his heart out as the images of his friend dying flashed in his head. He tried, he really did, tried to replace those images with the happiest ones he could ever remember.  
  
He wasn't even sure how long they stood there, but realized just the presence of his friends easing up his pain little by little. It was still there, he knew it wouldn't go away completely no matter what, not until Mitsuki wakes up, but it was becoming manageable, and eventually the sobs calmed down, leaving the boy only trembling a little.  
  
Then they heard soft footsteps, and someone cleared her throat.  
  
"Boruto...?" he heard Sarada's voice, and he looked up. The one thing he immediately noticed was that her eyes brimmed red... like she was crying too. Then he noticed ChoCho by her side. "There is... something I want to show you."  
  
Inojin slowly got up. "Well... we had to go anyway."  
  
"No." Sarada said, her voice a little clearer. "You can come too."  
  
Boruto got up from the swing. "Yes... Guys, I'm sorry. You can come with us. We would like that."  
  
They didn't say anything, they just showed a small, grateful smile. Boruto wiped the tears away from his eyes. "Alright then... let's go. Lead the way, Sarada."  
  
The Uchiha girl nodded and the group left the playground. They all followed in silence the black haired girl and soon they found themselves in the deeps of Konoha's forest. Boruto knew where this would lead to but he wondered what exactly his childhood friend wanted to show him there.  
  
As they slowly made their way to the edge of the cliff overlooking the huge waterfall... The scene that met their eyes made Boruto come to a staggering halt, his eyes widening slightly.  
  
"Wh... Wha..." he tried to say, but words were failing him.  
  
The scene in front of him reminded him of a film he watched and talked to his friends about some time ago, he didn't remember when... A make-shift boat stood to the edge of the cliff, with what he was sure "Team Konohamaru" written on its prow, some of the words missing... A black cloth was attached to the ledge which stood in the middle of the boat, with a white skull figure on it - although the skull looked anything but intimidating, there was actually a smile on it, if anything, it looked a little creepy. Various other decorations and accessories laid scattered around, as if they were booty that they had gathered...  
  
Sarada went and picked up something. "This was our surprise... Or his, actually he planned the whole thing, I just helped." She turned to him, holding a multi-colored wooden parrot in her hands, tears filling in her eyes. "Happy birthday," she whispered, giving him a small smile.  
  
Boruto continued gaping, speechless, as he carefully took the wooden parrot in his hands, he took it with such care as if it would break right there and then.  
  
He couldn't believe Mitsuki had done this...how had he even managed to keep it in secret all this time? That boy sure was a box of surprises...  
  
The blond felt his throat starting to burn, he opened his mouth but no words came out, just a simple gasp...  
  
"That..." he finally managed to say. "...that guy..." he was clearly emotional with the situation.  
  
"He went out of his way to keep it from you," Sarada continued, almost in a haste, as if to cover the bitterness of this moment with happy memories. "He dragged me out of my home at six in the morning you know... a-and r-remember how your mama and Himawari showed up at the end of our training, h-he... made them promise too, and..." Her breath was hitching a little. The Uchiha pressed her hands over her eyes, shaking her head a little. "Goodness, he told me to make it count... I'm messing this up..."  
  
"Guys... it's alright, let it go if you need it..." Inojin said carefully. They had been just looking around unbelievably, not knowing what to say.  
  
"So almost everyone... knew..." Boruto whispered between his heavy breath, he tried to keep the tears from falling but it didn't work... they just came back and started falling from his eyes...  
  
All the others remained in silence while watching the two friends cry...  
  
"And above all...he chose this place..."  
  
"He never told me why he chose here..." Sarada mumbled, looking around. "J-just said you two made a promise..." She watched as Boruto shut his eyes tight, his hands shaking. "I... I'm sorry..." She didn't mean to cause the blond even more pain...  
  
He didn't want to talk about it. About their promise... they had both sworn... and be remembered Mitsuki's words from only a few days ago...  
  
_'I can't give you a promise I can't keep...'  
  
[Flashback]  
  
"Jump!"  
  
Boruto lost his balance when he reached the edge of the cliff, flailed his arms wildly for a bit, then both him and Mitsuki tumbled down.  
  
It was exhilarating!  
  
He couldn't help but scream in excitement as they fell down some meters below into the river. The chilling water cut his breath on impact and for a while, stars danced in front of his eyes. Then he kicked up and burst through the surface, laughing joyously.  
  
"Haha, that was priceless, don't you agree?"  
  
There were no replies.  
  
Confused more than concerned, Boruto looked around. Where was Mitsuki? They had both jumped in... didn't they?  
  
Fear hit him at the possibility, and he immediately looked up... He could see no one at the top of the cliff... Not even the thug was there, which made the blond frown - what was going on?!  
  
"Mitsu-!" just then, a hand was clamped on his mouth, and he struggled to get free of it.  
  
"Not now." came his friend's voice from behind him and Boruto felt himself immediately relaxing. "He could be around here, we should stay low."  
  
And so they retreated back to hide behind a rock, eyes keen and watching everywhere as they listened on to the sounds...  
  
It took a while... and the voice was dimmed due to the roar of the waterfall, but finally they heard something.  
  
"Boruto? Mitsuki! Come out wherever you are now!"  
  
"That's sensei..." the blond said, looking at his friend in relief. They both came out of their hiding spot, looking upwards.  
  
Hands on her knees and bending a little forward to see clearly, Sarada pointed. "There they are, sensei!"  
  
Konohamaru breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that his students were safe. "Come up here quickly!" he called towards the duo again, then looked at the man he had just caught and bound. "We have a package to deliver and we can't lose time!"  
  
"Yeah yeah, we will be up there in a minute!"  
  
Hearing the lazy and carefree tone in Boruto's voice, the jounin felt his temper rising slightly. "There is no time to dawdle! Get moving - now!"  
  
Mitsuki looked at his friend. "I believe it would be wise to do as we are told."  
  
"Yeah, they can wait a little." Boruto said, still carefree. "First I want to make sure of something."  
  
Mitsuki raised an eyebrow at this - leave it to Boruto to get on the nerves of their sensei. "What is it? I'm positive that Konohamaru sensei took care of that thug."  
  
"Nah, it's not about that."  
  
But the blond made no further explanation as they waddled their way ashore, which made the blue-haired preteen even more curious. "Boruto..."  
  
Then his friend finally turned to him. "Oka- whoa...!" before losing his balance and tumbling on the ground.  
  
Mitsuki laughed for a little, which earned him a scowl from Boruto, but in a moment it was replaced by a smirk and the blond reached up to pull his friend down as well. In the next minute, they were both laughing their heads off.  
  
"Okay. This calls for a promise." the Uzumaki said all of a sudden, catching Mitsuki by surprise.  
  
"What promise are you talking about?"  
  
"Simple. Promise me that, just like today, we will always be by each other's side, no matter what, always there to help each other." Boruto raised his fist. "And I promise the same to you."  
  
Mitsuki looked at him for a second before raising his fist and bumping it against Boruto's. "I promise."  
  
[End of Flashback]_ **(1)**  
  
As Boruto reopened his eyes, determination shone in them. "I made up my mind," he whispered softly.  
  
"Huh?" asked Sarada, confused.  
  
"I want to celebrate my birthday after all." the blond said a little more clearly, finally letting his gaze drift away from the blanket of white on the ground.  
  
This sudden change in his resolve was certainly unexpected, but it managed to bring a smile to his friends' faces. "Well, that's great," Metal said, they were all relieved that Boruto was able to snap out of it. "So if you still want we can-"  
  
"Guys, um... I'm sorry..." the blond said sheepishly, bringing his hand to his neck. "Can we... do that later...? I... kinda have to make up for someone else first."  
  
"Oh... uh, sure..." Inojin said with a bright smile, one which made Boruto feel a little ashamed because of the way he treated them earlier. "We'll arrange that later." Then, one by one, all of his friends came forward to hug him. "Happy birthday, Boruto."  
  
"Thanks, you guys," he said, finally managing a small smile. He and Sarada watched until their friends were out of sight. Then the blond took the Uchiha's hand. "Come on."  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"You'll see."  
  
Not saying anything else to her, he took out his cellphone. "Hello, mom? Mom, I'm really sorry about the way I behaved... I-I want to celebrate my birthday..." Boruto smiled as he, undoubtedly, heard Hinata's happy tone. "Can all of you meet us in the hospital...?"  
  
...  
  
The snow was spiraling down in a white haze out of the building, piling up on the already thick blanket on the ground. The building itself was alight, the windows glowing in the darkness.  
  
One of the rooms had a very lively party going on inside, as lively as the hospital rules allowed of course. The room contained the youngest patient in the hospital currently, a twelve year old hero.  
  
The hustle and bustle that was going on was a courtesy of his best friend, Uzumaki Boruto, who had insisted that if he was going to have any kind of celebration for his birthday... it was gonna have to include his best friend.  
  
Boruto smiled brightly as those who gathered in the room finished the birthday song, and then he leaned forward to blow the candles out. He was wearing a pirate hat that his friends had bought, and (because they couldn't make it sit on his shoulder) the wooden parrot was standing on the table beside him.  
  
Claps echoed around the room; the entirety of the Uzumaki and Uchiha families were inside the room, plus Konohamaru. They were all practically cramped in the room, and although they had received some stink eyes, seeing the circumstances, they were allowed in; with the pretense that the visit should be short. Which Sakura felt the need to remind them of after they finished their share of the cake.  
  
"I'm sorry, but this is as far as I can let you be in here." she said, with an understanding smile directed to the birthday boy, Sarada and Himawari.  
  
Himawari pouted and let out a long 'aww' before Sarada walked over to her and put her hands on her shoulder to lead her out. The adults followed not too long after, after wishing Boruto the best for his new year.  
  
When everyone left, the blond eyed Sakura a little nervously. "Aunt Sakura... can I please stay a little more?"  
  
The look in the pink haired woman's eyes only softened more. "Of course, dear, but no more than five minutes."  
  
He just nodded and watched until Sakura was out before turning his head back at his friend once again...  
  
_[Flashback]  
  
"Oww!"  
  
Boruto flinched a little as Mitsuki gave a short yelp of pain following a thud. He... wasn't exactly adjusted to darkness as he would like to think, plus not knowing Mitsuki's house good enough... didn't help with things much. Which was something his blue-haired friend pointed out soon enough.  
  
"I still don't understand why I have to be led into my own house blindfolded, Boruto..."  
  
"You'll see in a minute," the blond said, barely being able to hold back a chuckle. He didn't want to give anything away. He wanted everything to be great... he wanted his best friend to feel he was welcomed...  
  
And in his mind? This was the best opportunity.  
  
"At least don't make me bump into another thing, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," the blond said cheerily. "Hey, wait over here for a moment, will you? I'll be right back..."  
  
"Boruto..." there was a warning tone in the younger boy's voice.  
  
"Don't open your eyes until I say so!" Boruto called before carefully finding his way to the couch and hiding behind it... coming face to face with his little sister.  
  
"Can't believe you almost blew our cover!" Himawari whispered indignantly."  
  
"Look who's talking! Keep your voice down, will you!"  
  
"Boruto!" Mitsuki's voice came, impatient. "Can we get over with this already?"  
  
"Well?" Sarada asked from the other corner. "Any reason to keep waiting?"  
  
"Is there anyone else here?" this time, Mitsuki sounded confused.  
  
Well... he couldn't see any point in hiding anymore. The blond gave a small nod, and Himawari darted towards the kitchen to notify their mothers, who had been taking care of the cake.  
  
They then heard Mitsuki sigh. "This is getting ridiculous..."  
  
Boruto felt more than saw what his friend was about to do - and it was too early for it! So when he saw the trio coming out of the kitchen already - he rushed forward to stop them... just when Sarada noticed something and plopped out of her hiding spot to alert them...  
  
And that was how Mitsuki found them when he turned on the lights. Himawari, Hinata and Sakura coming out of the kitchen, Hinata holding a huge cake with lit candles on it, Boruto practically on his tiptoes as he was trying to approach them discreetly and Sarada, frozen in the middle of waving her arms towards their direction, half-seen behind the armchair... all of them comically stopped in their tracks.  
  
To break through the awkwardness of the situation, Himawari bent down to snatch a handful of confetti they had previously thrown around for decoration and just threw them over. "Happy birthday, Mitsu-nii!"  
  
The blue-haired boy was so baffled that for a moment, he could do nothing but look around at the decorations with widened golden eyes. "W... what is..."  
  
Following his sister's lead, Boruto snapped out of his stance and came over to his friend's side, putting an arm on his shoulder as he grinned widely. "Don't tell me you forgot it! Happy birthday, Mitsuki!"  
  
The boy was still at a loss for words. "I..."  
  
"Sorry it's not that much," the blond continued almost sheepishly, but he couldn't keep the glee out of his voice anyway. "I wanted to do something more detailed since it's your first birthday here, it should be special, and man, twelve is an important age..."  
  
Hinata gave a soft chuckle at her overly-enthusiastic son. "Boruto, just give him a breath of fresh air..."  
  
"...and we would've arranged something more if you told us about this previously, I mean, who says it's his birthday just the day before it?! It's a crime, I'm telling you..."  
  
"Boruto." Mitsuki finally managed to cut in, and his voice sounded strangely tight. "It's... it's okay, I really like it..."  
  
"Aw, well," the blond said, oblivious to his friend getting emotional. "Tell me about that again when you see what I have in stock for next year..."  
  
"That is a long stretch of time..." Sarada pointed out, sweat-dropping.  
  
"Come on... at least let him blow out the candles before they go out, okay...?"  
  
[End of Flashback]_  
  
Boruto sighed. "You do realize you raised the stakes too high, right? How am I even gonna compete with this on your next birthday? There should be a middle ground before you reach the peak, y'know?"  
  
Obviously, there were no answers. But the blond didn't seem to be disheartened by it... his smile didn't falter.  
  
"It's alright... Even if you can't reply to me, I know you can still hear. So listen closely," he said crisply, straightening himself a little. "When you come back, I want a full-fledged birthday party." The look in his eyes softened. "And I know you will come back... because the Mitsuki I know never gives up, and always keeps his promises." He bumped his fist against his friend's, just like how they did back then.  
  
Better not strain aunt Sakura's tolerance.  
  
Just when he was about to walk out... an idea came to his mind. He brought a hand to his necklace and looked back at his friend, then determination filled his eyes. He took the necklace out and walked over to the bedside table on which he had left the wooden parrot.  
  
"Uncle Neji..." he whispered as he put the necklace on it, his hand staying over it for a minute. "If you can hear me, please help my friend find his way back to us..."  
  
He then turned and walked towards the door, and turned back to look at Mitsuki again. "It can't be his time just yet..."  
  
...  
  
The change in the blond was immediately noticed when he returned to his family's side. "Onii-chan, where is your necklace?" Himawari asked curiously.  
  
In turn, Boruto gave her a big smile. "It's alright, Hima... I just lent it to someone who needs it more."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **(1)** You might remember this mission from chp15, Boruto's nightmare - this is the true ending of it, and the famous promise :D
> 
> So before I leave it for the day... I'm gonna have to notify you about some changes within the plotline ^^
> 
> \- We used to have our own birthdates for the children because this story started way before any canon material... but as it was getting confusing when trying to set the timeline right, me and Eleanor-Devil currently decided to turn back to the canon dates. So according to this;
> 
> Himawari- July 15th (until further notice)  
> Boruto- January 12th (until further notice)  
> Sarada- March 31st  
> Mitsuki- July 25th  
> Shikadai- September 23rd  
> Chouchou- August 8th  
> Metal Lee- February 21st (until further notice)  
> Inojin- December 5th 
> 
> We also made it that... Boruto just turns 13 here while Sarada and Mitsuki is 12.  
> And Hima is now 4 years younger than the main next gen, instead of the original 6.
> 
> \- So obviously... our timeline changed too xD Sacrifices was previously set in March, now it's set in January. It's been 4 days since Mitsu fell in coma by the way :)
> 
> \- After long and grueling discussions about how we can do just that... we finally decided to add Log into the story! :D
> 
> \- As for that fact, you might also know that there are OCs that will be introduced in this and the following stories. Like the Naruto generation, we have 12 rookies from Konoha; Team Konohamaru, InoShikaCho, Metal's Team (with his teammates, Asahi and Fuuto being OCs) and a team led by Kiba! Who is also consisting of OCs :XD: Some majorly important characters for Sacrifices are;
> 
>  **Natsumi:** She's Kankuro's and an OC's daughter, Gaara's niece and two years younger than the main next gen, just like Shikayo and Inochi (all OCs of Eleanor-Devil )  
>  **Beika:** A member of Team Kiba and the grandson of the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, Teuchi, Beika specializes in shielding techniques. He's the same age as the next gen. (OC by me, mirage-05 )  
>  **Sarutobi Ichiro:** He's Kichiro's, the head of Sarutobi clan, grandson and he is very close to his grandfather... hence he will annoy you a lot :XD: Two years older than the main next gen. (OC by me, mirage-05 )


	20. The Gokage Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the attack attempt to the village, Naruto decided to call the Gokage for an urgent meeting. Meanwhile, Gaara's niece and Kankuro's daughter, Natsumi, accompanies her uncle and father to Konoha and discovers what happened to Mitsuki.

The trip to Konoha had been silent for most of the time, at least between Natsumi, her father and her uncle. Both the adult men talked with each other from time to time. She was just ten but Natsumi grew up to be a perceptive girl and she could see how tense her uncle and father were… Were they holding back something because of her presence? Or was it the meeting with the Hokage?

Making up her mind to find out, she stood up from her seat. “I’m going to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” She received just a simple nod from the two men.

As soon as she got out of the bathroom, though, the young girl stopped and made sure no one was looking closely. Then she brought her hands together and whispered, “Bunshin no jutsu.”

Immediately, a clone of herself materialized next to her. “Alright…” Natsumi said to the clone, feeling a little awkward. “I’m gonna hide somewhere close and listen to their conversation. You will be my decoy if they came out looking for me.” Although for how long was she going to be able to keep this… she didn’t know. Besides her uncle being a sensor type, both he and her father were skilled ninjas and they could detect her at any moment. 

 

Climbing through the air tubes of the train, Natsumi tried to hide her presence the best she could (however she was not very good at it, yet). Once she reached the place above her uncle and father, the pink haired girl tried to listen to the conversation.

“How bad is the situation?” she heard her father ask.

“…Not good it seems, if we’re not careful there can be more attempts like this.” Gaara answered.

“They managed to control the situation?”

“They did, but it seems it was thanks to a genin who is close friends to Naruto’s son.”

There was a small pause.

“A genin…?” Natsumi heard her father’s doubtful tone, but for some reason… she was having difficulty concentrating on the conversation as a whole. Her mind was reeling… a close friend of the Hokage’s son…?

Her uncle was silent once again and so Kankuro continued to wonder aloud. “But… how could a genin affect such a matter?”

“I don’t know all the details,” Gaara admitted. “But perhaps it’s not too… wise to speak about it in front of Natsumi. From what I gathered, it’s not a pretty case.”

Kankuro followed his brother’s gaze before returning to look at him. He sighed. “So it is more complicated than it seems.”

Gaara just nodded and Natsumi, finally snapping out of her thoughts but not entirely with her mind at ease, decided that it was time to go back to them before they started suspecting.

A few minutes later the girl was back in the company of the two adults. Silence had gone back reigning the place and Natsumi was on her knees staring outside the window. Who was Boruto’s friend that had gotten involved in this apparently serious case…?

Before she knew it, the train entered the Konoha station and slowed down to a stop. 

The girl was barely containing her anxiety, literally rocking up and down on her heels. When they got out with the escort of her uncle’s bodyguards, into the safety of the leaf village, she turned to look at her father.

“Is it okay if I go ahead to aunt Temari’s?” she was dying to know more about this situation, and she knew Shikadai would help her on the matter.

Kankuro raised an eyebrow before sighing and smiling. He ruffled his daughter’s hair before pushing her forward a little. “Go ahead, we won’t go there for a while.” 

Natsumi nodded and ran off towards the Nara household. 

“Aunt Temari! Are you home??” said the girl as she opened the door and kicked off her shoes.

She looked forward and saw a blonde head peeking outside the kitchen. And in a moment, a smile broke into the woman’s features. “Shikayo, Shikadai! Look who is in for a surprise!” she called out before wiping her hands to the apron she was wearing.

In the next moment, Natsumi had charged in for a tight hug, which made the woman giggle as she returned the hug and put a hand on her niece’s hair. “I didn’t know you would be coming too.” she said lightly, drawing back a little to get a good look at her. “Oh my, you have grown quite a bit.”

Natsumi giggled and gasped in surprise when she felt a pair of arms wrapping around her, lifting her slightly from the floor.

“How’s my cousin doing??” Shikayo asked as she put her down. Despite being the same age as Natsumi, Shikayo was taller than the pink haired girl. 

Natsumi smiled and hugged her back. “I’m doing great!” 

She looked at the stairs when she heard the lazy dragging of Shikadai’s feet. With his hands in his pockets, the green eyed boy wore his typical lazy expression despite not having seen his cousin in a while.

“Oh, hey.” 

Temari put her hands on her hips. “Greet her properly!”

“Too troublesome.”

“Shikadai…”

“She knows what I mean, mom!”

“Shikadai!”

Rolling his eyes, the young boy did a mock, dramatic bow, the end of his ponytail almost touching the floor. “Welcome to the Nara residence, your highness. What can I do for you?”

His theatricals caused both Natsumi and Shikayo to burst in laughter while Temari just huffed, shaking her head. “What am I going to do with you…”

Shikayo took the chance to grin at her older brother and say, “…well, you can start by taking your highness’s bag to her room.”

Shikadai rolled his eyes as he stood up. “Don’t push it.” he eyed Natsumi. “What brings you here? I thought only uncles were coming…”

“I… might have snuck onto the train…?” she answered with an innocent smile. 

_[Flashback]_

_“Natsumi sweetie, I need your…”_

_Naomi came to a sudden stop as she entered her oldest daughter’s room, while the young girl turned slowly to her with a sheepish expression._

_There was a moment of silence._

_“Okay…” Naomi said, raising an eyebrow, clearly amused. “What is going on here?”_

_“I, um…” the girl said, carefully drawing her right leg, which was out of the window already, back. “I… can explain?” she said with a sheepish, almost too innocent grin._

_“I’m sure you can.” her mother said, putting a hand on her hip, the corners of her mouth twitched as if she was trying to suppress a smile. “Spill.”_

_“I heard that dad and uncle are going to Konoha…” Natsumi said. “And I… want to go with them. I packed my things last night.” she said defiantly._

_“And does your father or your uncle know about your decision?”_

_“Well… nope.”_

_Naomi brought her other hand to her chest almost dramatically, her eyes going wide. “Natsumi, I’m shocked! You plan to sneak onto that train…”_

_“Yeah, but…”_

_“Knowing that they leave for an important meeting…”_

_“I know mom, but…”_

_“And above all else…” Finally, the woman broke into a grin. “Trying to sneak out on me, like I would do anything to stop you!”_

_Her daughter gaped at her. “You won’t?”_

_“Oh, dear, I thought you know me better than that.” Naomi said with a chuckle. “Now, go on already. I believe the train will leave in fifteen minutes.”_

_[End of Flashback]_

The hall was filled with laughter.

“I just missed you guys and Konoha.” Natsumi finished her story with a big grin.

Shikadai raised an eyebrow. “Missed us huh? Or was it someone else…?” This caused Shikayo to elbow him.

Natsumi tried her best not to blush immediately - Shikadai was always one to tease her on this, and she didn’t want to play his game. “Whatever do you mean by that, Dai?”

But to her surprise… The green eyed boy didn’t say anything else on the matter, rather than flinging her bag around his shoulder and turning on his heels. “Nothing.” he said almost too non-chalantly, which made the pink haired kunoichi frown a little, something was definitely off…

She waited until they reached her room before finally putting her card on the table.

“Shikadai… I heard that… whatever happened that made uncle come here involved one of Boruto’s close friends… who is it…?” 

Shikadai didn’t face her and didn’t tense up… like he already expected her to ask it. He dropped the bag on the bed. “It’s nothing you should concern your little head at.” 

“I’m not a kid anym-”

“Shikadai,” his sister started. “I think she should know.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“The village is big but not big enough to keep that from her, sooner or later she will find out and I would rather she finds out through us!”

Their words were triggering something… something akin to physical pain… why would Dai try to hide it from her… unless it was someone she knew well… and it was indeed… very serious…

“Dai… please…” the slight tremble in her tone was what finally made her cousin to turn to look at her. “Just… tell me…?”

Shikayo nervously glanced at her brother, who sighed. “We… don’t know how serious his condition really is…” he tried to mollycoddle it, but it was a feeble attempt. Catching the ‘his’ in the sentence easily, Natsumi felt like her heart skipped a beat. Shikadai sighed once more before dropping the bomb. “It’s Mitsuki…”

And her heart sank deeper than a sinking ship in a storm… her eyes widened and her hands quickly rushed to her chest. She found it hard to breath for a moment. Seeing that, Shikayo wrapped an arm around her cousin. “What… what happened…?”

“We…” Shikayo started. “We don’t know the details… we just know that some people tried to attack the village and… Mitsuki tried to stop them and got hurt… like Shikadai said we don’t know how serious it is…”

“Tried to st… all by himself…?” her voice had turned weak, fading off at the end. The Nara siblings didn’t say anything to that, but neither of them was making eye contact with her by this point. “B- but why…? How…?!” her voice rose up again, against the injustice she felt in those words.

Shikadai sank down onto the bed, clasping his hands in front of him, his gaze still on the floor. “Because of some stupid, stuck-up people who thought it was a good idea to bully someone over something he can’t control.” was his mumbled response.

“B-bully…? He… he was… being bullied…? By who?!” 

Shikayo sighed. “Some stupid kids… because of his origins.”

“But that’s not fair!” the blonde gripped her cousin’s shoulder harder.

“We know… i-it’s not clear but… some rumors say he did it to prove that he is part of this village as we are. Others… just say that… he was working with them and was betrayed…” 

At that Natsumi snapped as tears formed in her eyes. “No! I refuse to believe that! That’s not the Mitsuki I know! He cares for this village, he wouldn’t betray Konoha! That… that’s not true… he… t-that’s nothing like the boy I know… the same boy that helped me heal my ankle and didn’t even get angry despite having been crushed by me…”

“We know, Natsumi,” Shikadai said in almost a resigned tone. “We don’t believe one word of that type of rumors, either. In all honesty, although I don’t know him as good as Boruto, I…”

He didn’t finish his sentence but the implication behind it made the tears flow down the young girl’s eyes. Sacrificing himself for the safety of people he loves, even after what he had been through… that just felt so much like Mitsuki… Her fingers tightened over the fabric of her outfit, over her heart, as if she was trying to hold it in place.

Shikayo rubbed her cousin’s shoulders, knowing that her anxiety could take over her easily when she was distressed like this.

“I want… I want to visit him…” both siblings looked at her. “I have to… he’s… he’s at the hospital right…?”

Shikadai didn’t meet her eyes. “Natsumi… we said we don’t know the severity of his wounds… but we heard that… he’s in a coma right now, induced or not we don’t know… are you sure you want to see him like that…?” He was just two years older than Natsumi… yet he didn’t want his cousin to see more than she had to until the time came.

Coma… good god… More tears threatened to fall, but her determination made the young girl close her eyes in an attempt to stop them. The look in her eyes left no doubt. “Yes. Y-you said he was b-bullied, right?” She lifted her head to look into her cousin’s eyes. “Then at least we could… no, we should let him know that he is not alone.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Never alone.”

Finally, the green eyes met hers, and the Nara understood that his cousin was not going to give up… no matter what she would see. He nodded as he slowly got up. “Alright… I will take you to the hospital.”

…

It was indeed a very busy day in Konohagakure, and it didn’t really have much to do with the Gokage meeting that was going to take place in a short while. Many voices could be heard, some angry, some calm but with a strong determination, but all discussing one matter that needed to be addressed.

“What do you mean, you won’t permit our children from going to missions?!"one of the Hyuga asked, his tone practically enraged.

"Be glad that they get to get away with this kind of punishment,” Hanabi said calmly, meeting the man’s gaze with a level look. “Under these circumstances, I should have given a harsher punishment.”

“This is already harsh enough!” another parent spoke up. “No missions means no money. He is the only one bringing home money! Lady Hanabi, you know what we had been through since my husband died at the fourth world war!”

“I’m sorry, Akemi,” Hanabi kept her voice determined but the look in her eyes had softened just a little. “But you should bring that matter up to your son. He should’ve thought before ganging up on a poor boy who is equally alone in Konoha.”

That was met with more protesting voices.

“What did they do to warrant such a punishment?! They are only children, any children can go a little far with their pranks!”

“We don’t even know the true intentions of the 'poor boy’ as you call him!”

That was the last straw. When Hanabi’s impatient and harsh tone was next heard, no one dared to speak again.

“Intentions, right now, are irrelevant! Although allow me to say I believe Mitsuki has more of a backbone than any of you do! So for goodness’s sake, stop pushing this matter over the edge already and consider this punishment as a token of my goodwill!”

There was only silence now following her words. Satisfied, Hanabi continued. “As is decided by the leaders of all the clans involved, the children are required to attend counseling sessions. Moreover, there will be mandatory community service, the details of which will be specified shortly. That is all for today. You may continue with your daily affairs.”

As the crowd dispersed slowly, the young woman turned to one of the few remaining around her. “Follow every family and report back to me if there is anyone disobeying. If they do… next time, there will be fines involved.”

…

“I… I’m not sure if I understand you…?”

“We would like you to claim the leadership of the Sarutobi.”

It took Konohamaru another moment to snap out of his surprised state. He cleared his throat. “Yes, but… even when Kichiro is sacked…”

“Ichiro is still too young to take the position.” one of the elders in front of him said, a serious look on his face. “That, and his compliance with his grandfather’s decisions… make him an ineligible leader.”

“Which is another thing we would like to talk to you about,” said the other elder. “If you find this suitable… we would like Ichiro to be supervised by you… A tutor of sorts, someone we can rely on to make sure he is well-mannered and experienced before he takes the leadership seat.”

“After all… who would be better than the grandson of the third, an excellent ninja himself?”

The brunet’s facial expression remained the same, still doubtful. “You’re giving me too much credit.”

“And you are giving yourself too less credit. In any case, if you need help… you should know that all of the elders had conceded to your leadership.”

“All of them?” he asked, now genuinely baffled. It was extremely rare… almost unheard of that the elders of any clan, lest Sarutobi, to collectively agree upon something.

“Yes, indeed. There is just one problem now, as you can imagine…”

…

“I will never accept your leadership! The rightful head is still my grandfather!”

There was nothing but insatiable fury and disgust in the teenager’s eyes as he gazed up at Konohamaru, fists balled, teeth gritted. The young man stood his ground and said nothing, as the elder beside him spoke in a cool manner.

“You have no choice in the matter. Your grandfather was relieved of his position because of how poorly he led the Sarutobi, endangering not only the clan but the village too. When you are of age, and if you are fit to be the leader by then… you will acquire the title. Until then our new leader is Konohamaru-san, and he will also be your tutor.”

“I don’t give two shits about what you old farts think! My grandfather dedicated his whole life to this clan and this is how you thank him?! By just… just replacing him like he was nothing, only because that man is the third hokage’s grandson?!”

“If you still believe that is the only reason behind this decision…” the other elder said, frowning slightly. “this only proves our point that you are not yet ready.”

“You know what, I’m not gonna stay here to listen to your bullcrap!” With that, the young boy turned his back to them, ready to go.

“Ichiro.” Konohamaru then spoke, in a calm but firm tone. It was clear that Ichiro was almost going to act as if he didn’t hear him… but he stopped nonetheless. “I expect you to report to me first thing tomorrow morning.”

Slowly, the teen’s hands balled into fists once again, and he was visibly shaking, although most likely from anger. After a moment, he turned his head to glare daggers at the young man and then stormed out of the door, slamming it shut behind him.

The elder to his left sighed, shutting his eyes before shaking his head. “What are we going to do with this child…?”

Konohamaru sighed too, his eyes still on the closed door. “Well… at least he didn’t say no to the last part.”

…

The small terrace on the Hokage building was seeing one of its busiest times. The gokage meeting was just about to start, and the kages from four of the five main villages had taken their seats with their bodyguards standing around them. They were talking to each other in hushed voices, clearly curious, until a cough cut into the murmurs.

“First of all, I would like to welcome all of you to Konoha and thank you for heeding to the call.” Naruto began seriously. “As we don’t know the scale and scope of the threat yet, we found it necessary to hold this meeting.” There was a brief pause. “Five days ago, Konoha faced an attempted attack by two rogue cloud ninjas and survivors from the sound village. The attack was averted thanks to a…” Naruto once again hesitated before moving on, even though this much time had passed, it was still a delicate subject. “…thanks to a genin who fought the rogue nins by himself.”

Confused murmurs surrounded the room, and Kurotsuchi spoke up, a doubtful tone in her voice. “A genin? Surely you’re not gonna tell us he was sent on a mission?”

“Of course not.” The Hokage’s voice was terse. “I would trust your judgment that none among us here would allow such a mission.” The Tsuchikage didn’t say anything to that. “No, he had left the village…”

“Left?” this came from Chojuro, and the tone in his voice made it clear what he was asking.

“On my knowledge.” Naruto sighed. “I believe I must have made it clearer… The child chose to leave because of a misunderstanding and its consequences…”

“The thing here is, Naruto,” the Mizukage continued, leaning a little forward and putting his arms on the table. “We are not particularly interested in why he left… We’re more interested in…”

“…whether it’s treason or not, leaving the village as a ninja is still a pretty dangerous move.” Kurotsuchi finished.

“I assure you, this matter is not of utmost importance to our current topic.” the blond said, in a tone that ended the debate. Gaara’s eyes flickered for a moment to his friend, he was sure there was more to the story, but this wasn’t the place to bring that up. “All of the culprits are captured or otherwise taken care of. During the investigation of the sound ninjas, however… that’s when we came across something troubling.” At that point the Hokage, too, put his arms on the table and leaned forward a little, looking at each of the kages in the eye. “The prisoners confessed that their aim was to pull an assassination attempt against me and to throw Konoha into chaos.”

And once again, murmurings started. Naruto waited patiently for a moment for the voices to die down before speaking again.

“It is not yet clear whether this will imply a bigger plot… but it is apparent that their grand aim was to disturb the peace era in general.”

“Of course… what better way than to kill the person who was the harbringer of the peace?” Darui said, straightening himself slightly in his seat.

“You sound like you expect things to take an ugly turn…” Gaara said with a serious look. “Does that mean we should prepare ourselves for war?”

The anticipation was perfectly tangible in the atmosphere now, it was apparently a question on everyone’s mind.

“It might be too early for that,” the Hokage admitted. “We still have quite a few pieces of the puzzle missing. But in any case…” His gaze flickered to Gaara, too. “It’s best to be on our guard.”

Chojuro was scratching his chin thoughtfully. “The sound… correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t that the village one of your S-classed missing nins formed? Sounds to me a bit more like it can be a personal vendetta…”

The blond man nodded. “That’s why I say there’s no need for rash actions, we don’t know the nature of their plans… in any case, Konoha will be on the lookout for the Sound from now on, because it’s true, it’s primarily our own concern.”

“I didn’t mean it like that…” the Mizukage began, but Naruto cut in with a weary smile.

“It’s alright, I know… But, forgive me for being bold, I believe it will be downright foolish not to take your own precautions.”

There were nods and agreeing mumbles. Everyone became a bit relaxed as the meeting came to an informal end and started talking among themselves.

Gaara approached Naruto, Kankuro close behind. “Naruto, can I have a moment?”

“Sure.” With that, the three walked out of the terrace, back into the office building. “What is it?”

“I believe there is more to the story than you let us know…”

…

Natsumi hesitated a while before entering Mitsuki’s room. She didn’t know why she was so afraid… was it the fact that she didn’t want to see him in that state…?

Sighing, the pink haired girl opened the door and took the first peek inside.

What she saw made her bring her hands to her mouth as a gasp got out of her lips, her eyes going wide… She tried to take in a few more breaths but it was becoming a hard job…

She tentatively took a few steps into the room, and came to a stop.

This… almost didn’t look like the Mitsuki she knew… So fragile looking… Her friend was always strong… It felt like there was a stranger in his place, being connected to all those machines…

When she noticed, she was close to him, by his bed and she started taking in what she saw.

His chest was covered in bandages, cables on his chest that connected to the machines. Natsumi found herself thinking… if he was really alive or if it was just the machines keeping him alive…

No… She shook her head… she couldn’t think like that… Mitsuki was strong… he would make it…

She noticed one of his arms was also bandaged… she guessed it was broken… she could only guess.

Then his head… too…

“What did they do to you…?”

There were no responses… Of course… Only the steady beeps kept her company as the pink haired kunoichi slowly and quietly pulled a chair, so quiet as if she was afraid… that any kind of noise… any kind of disturbance at all… would just make him slip away… 

She sat beside his right side, and after a moment of hesitation, put a hand, gently, on his hand.

“Mitsuki…” she whispered, surprised at how much like a smaller child she sounded. “It’s Natsumi… I-I don’t know if you can hear me…"she gulped. "B-but I… just want to say… we’re here… you’re not alone…”

And just like it had happened when his team was present, the heart machine let out a bigger beep before returning to normal.

Natsumi looked at the machine and then back at Mitsuki’s steady form. “Did you hear me…?” That brought a small smile to her face. “I’m right here, no one is leaving you… we’re friends…” Feeling a few tears drop on her cheeks, she raised a hand to wipe at them. “So don’t… let what a few stupid weirdoes tell about you get to you, okay? Because next time I see anyone talk trash about you… I will just kick them to the next village with my fan.” A few more drops fell, and she found herself shaking a little. “Just please be alright… okay?”

And with those words said, Natsumi leaned in to kiss him on the forehead tenderly. “Tell me when you wake up… because I know you will.”

There was a knock and Natsumi turned around to see who it was. “Uncle…” she sniffed and wiped the remaining of her tears.

“I thought I would find you here.”

And the Kazekage made his way into the room, closing the door behind him. In the next moment, he was already taking a seat beside his niece.

“So this is the brave young boy…” The girl couldn’t say anything, just nodded. “I didn’t know you were close friends… I’m sorry, Natsumi…”

She squared her shoulders. “No… He’s gonna be alright. And everything will be okay then.”

Gaara just nodded, understanding how painful it would be for his niece to see a friend in this state.

“Why is life so cruel to those who don’t deserve it…?” she didn’t take her eyes off of him.

“I wish I could give you a proper answer but… I can’t.” 

She sniffed. “You went through something similar… what can I do to help him…?”

The redhead turned to give her a warm smile, the look in his eyes soft. “For now? Just pray for him to be safe and be back among us as soon as possible. And when that happens, show him your support and that you will always be there for him, no matter what. That’s how it worked for me.” Then his smile widened a little more. “But… I take it that you already know these.”

She sniffed and nodded. “I just want him back…” She looked back at her uncle. “I guess dad is looking for me…?”

Gaara chuckled for a bit before ruffling his niece’s hair. “He is… we better head back before he decides to tear up the entire Konoha.” His gaze once again turned soft as he looked back at the boy. “And don’t you worry… I have a very good feeling that he will be back… sooner or later.”

At that time, there was a knock on the door, and a medic peeked in. “Oh, I’m sorry, Kazekage-sama,” she said respectfully. “I need to do some check-ups.”

Gaara and Natsumi both stood up from their chairs. 

“Of course,” said the red haired. “We were just leaving.” He looked at Natsumi, who nodded in return after taking one last look at Mitsuki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (mirage-05):
> 
> I really have an almost insanely busy schedule nowadays,with work in the weekdays and gym on 4 days of the week (resulting in me returning to home at 9-10 pm) and writing classes in the weekends xD So my only remaining night is usually spent doing homework. I have this schedule until the end of June so things are gonna be a little slow… so don’t worry about me or this story We have all the outline of Sacrifices ready so everything is going according to the plan.
> 
> Anyways, this chapter consists the first gokage meeting I ever wrote so I hope I did a good job…? xD Also I introduce you my dear friend and co-creator eleanor-devil ’s main next gen OC, Natsumi and a few surprises… and a short glimpse at my own OC, Sarutobi Ichiro.
> 
> So I have a mini-poll for you guys… After reading this chapter, can you tell me how you think Ichiro will develop? Will he ever grow out of his jerk shoes? xD What do you think?


	21. Team Konohamaru's New Member?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto decides to send Team Konohamaru on a small, easy mission in order to help Boruto and Sarada cheer up a bit. However they are not alone...is this new character going to replace Mitsuki?

And he had thought the day couldn't possibly become more challenging.

Ichiro had just left the office, and he was just as much of a head case as he was the day before. The only difference was that now that he was officially the leader of the Sarutobi - which honestly was a concept Konohamaru was still trying to wrap his mind around - the teen had to act more reserved and respectable around him. Deep down, though, he couldn't help but feel like this was eventually gonna brew a rebellion sooner or later.

It would take only a spark. So he was going to act very careful, so as not to make any mistakes.

In other words, it was a battle of wills between himself and the clan's next heir.

Lost in his thoughts, Konohamaru raised his head as he heard a knock on the door. "Come in."

A chuunin walked into his office, a folded piece of paper in her hand. "Konohamaru-san," she said with a small bow, holding the paper out to him. "Lord Hokage wanted me to deliver this message to you."

The brunet took the message. "Thank you."

As the woman left, he quickly unfolded the paper and took a look at the handwriting. In a minute, he lowered his head in his palm with a sigh.

Yep... this day indeed couldn't have turned out more challenging.

...

"I don't understand..." Sarada said with a small frown as she was walking beside Boruto. "Why would lord seventh ask to see us now?"

"He didn't specify the details." the blond said, although he sounded a little... concerned, the Uchiha noted. It had been a little over a week since their friend fell into the coma, and they had never received a call from the Hokage's office since then. So both of the children were understandably... a little nervous.

Although, as much as she couldn't put a finger on it... There was something different about Boruto, it was as if he was... expecting something, or else plotting for something. She didn't know what that could possibly be but sometimes... the kind of determination and devotion scared the girl.

Still... Sarada chose not to voice any of her thoughts as they came in front of the Hokage building.

...

"WHAT?!"

Naruto sighed and closed his eyes for a moment at his son's outburst. "Just calm down and listen, Boruto..."

"Listen?! What is there to listen, dad? You are telling us that you are replacing Mitsuki in the team!"

"I am not." his father said patiently. "This is only a temporary mission. The boy who will be accompanying you has his own team..."

"Then he should be sent with his own team!"

"They are on a different mission right now."

Boruto snorted out a sarcastic laugh. "What kind of a tactic is that dad? Since when have you been mix-matching teams?"

"Lord seventh, please... I don't think we're really ready for a mission right now." Sarada said.

"I might have reconsidered my decision if the situation wasn't urgent." The Hokage's voice was soft but it was obvious that he wasn't going to give in. "The ingredient you must recover is extremely rare and can only be collected in this time of the year, and since his grandson is the only one who can truly identify it... Teuchi-san asked for him to accompany this mission."

Boruto crossed his arms and turned his back to his dad, his expression still very cross. "Find another team, dad."

"Boruto..."

"No, I'm serious dad!" the boy snapped, turning back furiously. "No matter how you cut it, it will still feel like he's just there as a replacement! And he will never be as good as Mitsuki!" He had to take a pause, breathing heavily because he had just delivered the speech in one breath. "Why are you doing this to us...?" he asked finally, his tone broken. In his eyes, this was nothing short of a betrayal.

Naruto sighed again before getting up from his seat and approaching his son.

"Boruto, Sarada... I know it's hard for you both but please have faith in me... I'm not doing this to replace Mitsuki at all... It was bec-"

"Will there be any other missions like this?" his son cut in abruptly, his tone still tense but a careful look in his eyes, almost... calculating.

It caught Naruto off guard for a moment, but he was quick to brush it off. "Not if there's another emergency, no."

"Dad, this isn't the answer we're looking for."

"But I can't give you guarantees on a matter that's out of my control. But... next time, I'll try to arrange a three-man mission, okay?"

Sarada sighed a breath of relief at that, she wasn't really keen about this mission either... Boruto looked at his father for a moment, and Naruto saw that the look in his eyes, that calculating look, stayed in place...

Was he... planning something?

Before he could elaborate on it, though, Boruto huffed and unfolded his arms, bringing one of his hands to stretch his neck, avoiding his eyes. "Okay, okay... I'll do your mission."

...

When they finally walked outside, they found their sensei was waiting for them... talking with the boy that would be 'accompanying' them.

The first thing that could be said about him was... well, he was quite plain-looking. He had a thin build, not exactly skinny but not with many muscles to show. Blond, shoulder length hair framed a tanned face with brown eyes.

He is too like me, Boruto decided as soon as they saw him, adding to his grumpiness. At least their original team had color variety.

Seeing them, the boy broke into a pleasant smile. "Hello! Nice to meet you, I'm..."

Boruto raised his hand to cut in. "I don't do introductions. We're only here for the mission, and that's that."

The newcomer was clearly taken aback. "Uuuh..."

"Boruto, be nice to him." Konohamaru said seriously. "This is Beika, and as you both know-"

"I'm sorry, was it 'baka'?"

"Boruto..." the brunet had a slight frown on his features now.

"Eh? No, it's 'Beika', as in... baker?"

"Are you trying to tell me-"

"Why," Konohamaru cut in, loud, sensing that this wasn't going to end up well. "don't you quickly introduce yourselves before we start, too?" He looked pointedly at his two students.

There was a moment of silence.

"Uchiha Sarada." the girl finally spoke, and while her tone wasn't as hostile as Boruto's, it couldn't be clearer that she was not interested.

"Uzumaki Boruto, but you can just keep it in mind as 'stay away'."

"You know," and finally... there was a frown on Beika's face, too. "You really don't have to take that tone with me."

"Whatever."

"Beika... let me have a quick word with these two."

The boy nodded silently, his eyes still on the Uzumaki as Konohamaru drew the two friends away.

"Now, listen to me," the jounin told them when they were out of earshot. "Beika didn't choose to be part of the team for this mission, Teuchi-san didn't specifically ask for our team to take it. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"He might be... as unwilling as we are?" Sarada asked.

"That wouldn't be how I put it, since he's actually showing some effort to act as part of this team." Konohamaru cut in quickly when he saw Boruto was about to say something. "I know what you feel, but this is how it works in the shinobi world, sometimes you have to work with people other than your teammates. Especially after you become Chuunins. And well... since this is a very basic mission, I'm pretty sure it won't take too long. So please... behave." he finished, especially looking at Boruto.

"Doesn't mean I have to enjoy it," the blond mumbled.

The jounin sighed. "Boruto... Lord seventh arranged this mission so you two can ease your minds a little. It's temporary, Beika won't be here all the time for all the possible missions, and I know you better than this. So please..."

"...behave. Yeah, okay, got it Konohamaru-onii-chan." Boruto said finally in a resigned tone, and this time the old epithet made the brunet actually smile a bit.

...

"So... where are we headed to?"

Beika smiled a little as he heard the noticeable change for the good in Sarada's tone. "We are headed to a small village on the other side of the hills a few kilometers away from our southern border." he replied.

"The ingredient we're searching for must be of their native origin..." the girl deduced.

"Yes, indeed. Actually, its origin is the snow country, but in this certain time of the year it can be-"

"Yeah yeah, we got it, cut it short will you?"

"Boruto, don't make me repeat myself."

"What? I didn't say anything!"

"Look, it's not my fault your friend isn't here." Beika started in a tone that was obviously trying to stay calm.

Nobody said anything for a moment.

"This... really isn't the best topic to bring up..." Sarada said, sweat dropping by the side of her cheek.

It looked like the boy was going to say something else... but then he decided against it. They continued down the pathway, not speaking much with each other after that.

...

They reached the village in about an hour.

It was like they had stepped into another reality. True, it was still January, but it wasn't quite as cold as this in Konoha, which was going through one of its warmest winters actually.

A middle-aged man with a pleasant expression greeted them at the entrance. "Welcome to Kanabiri," he said warmly as they came to a stop in front of him. "Sorry, we couldn't give you a warmer welcome... Got it? Warmer - because of the weather!"

They tried their best not to look too awkward as the man laughed heartily at his own joke - all but Beika, who sweatdropped. "I see you still haven't improved your humor skills, Oyayama-san."

"Beika, my boy," the man put a hand on Beika's shoulder, and with his size, the blond looked even smaller. 'What a joke,' Boruto thought grumpily. "It's been a while! Tell me about your grandfather."

"He's doing quite good, thank you."

"I thought you would come with the dog girl and that perma-grin boy?"

Boruto and Sarada just looked at each other, trying not to roll their eyes. This team sounded weirder and weirder each passing second.

"No, we got separated. This is Uzumaki Boruto, Uchiha Sarada and Sarutobi Konohamaru-sensei."

Oyayama shook their hands in turn. "Nice to meet all of you. Please make yourselves at home while we make the last preparations. There is a small celebration going on right now in the village actually." And sure enough, they could hear music coming from not too far away.

"Thank you, we will enjoy that." Konohamaru said pleasantly.

Well... Boruto had other plans.

...

They had been enjoying the celebrations - which were apparently for a wedding that would take place in the evening. She was trying to be open-minded about Beika, coming to terms with the fact that it wasn't his fault what they had been going through, and finding out that he is actually a person whose conversation she could enjoy.

But of course Sarada noticed the absence of the familiar presence of her childhood friend. 

"Umm, sensei..." she approached Konohamaru, trying to be discreet about it. "Do you know where Boruto is?"

"Hm? No, I haven't seen him in a while," the brunet replied, but he didn't seem so worried about it. "I wouldn't worry, though, he's probably somewhere around the village."

"True... I just..." the girl bit her lower lip.

"What is it, Sarada?" her sensei asked, still not really concerned but slightly bothered by her behavior.

"Something just doesn't feel right." she concluded a little bit sheepishly.

Before Konohamaru could say something, Oyayama approached them. "Konohamaru-san, everything is ready to go."

"Thank you for your cooperation," Konohamaru said, and then looked around. "Now if we can find Boruto..."

"Oh, he's not here." Oyayama's daughter chirped in from beside him, which left everyone baffled for a second. 

"What do you mean?" Sarada asked, immediately going into alarm mode.

"He said something about a secret mission," the girl continued brightly, not aware of how they suddenly became tense. "Kaa-san was teaching us about some herbs and he asked about... umm, the name was..."

"It was the Okanouchi flower," came a female voice behind the girl as her mother walked forward. With that word, Oyayama turned to look at her, a slight frown on his face.

"Wait, I thought that flower went extinct a few years ago?"

"That's what I tried to tell him," the woman replied, looking at her husband. "True, the plant's healing substances are still used as components of all kind of medicine, but it's not as effective as the original. The plant itself..."

"Healing?" Konohamaru asked, his eyes widening.

"That was its main purpose, yes."

Sarada didn't need any help to catch up to her sensei. "Sensei, we need to find him..." she said, worry evident in her onyx eyes. It had taken to a different level now - she was hoping that they would find Boruto before he had to suffer a big disappointment.

"And we will." the jounin said firmly. "Ma'am, any ideas of where he could go to search for this... plant?"

"Wait, do we need to find him immediately?" Beika asked, frowning a little himself. "I mean, it's not like he's in danger, and we need to take the ing-"

"Are you seriously even comparing these situations?" the Uchiha asked unbelievably.

"Well I'm sorry but there IS a reason why the mission couldn't be postponed."

"Well I'm sorry to say that right now, I don't give two-"

"We can arrange for the ingredients to last longer," Oyayama put in helpfully. 

"Thank you, we will take it," Konohamaru said before turning to Beika. "I understand your concern. But we don't leave anyone behind. I'm pretty sure this is not your sensei's way of teaching, so do comply with us."

When the blond didn't say anything to that, the brunet turned to Oyayama's wife. "Please give us more information about that location."

...

He was getting close.

It was more of a gut feeling rather than actually knowing the territory. It felt like he couldn't do this wrong, he couldn't have mistaken or miscalculated anything, this was the chance he was waiting for, the thing he had planned all along.

Of course, Boruto was quite aware of the fact that he was going to hear from Konohamaru-sensei for abandoning a mission, but he didn't really care right now.

Realizing that he had almost reached the mountain top - his destination - the blond started paying closer attention to his surroundings. The plant in description sounded quite... plain, except for some details. It was brilliant cyan in color, but the trickiest part was the leaves. From noon to two pm each day they were glowing with a barely noticeable hint of gold. It was fifteen minutes to two, so he had to be quick.

Luck was by his side. He indeed came upon a cluster of light blue flowers by the riverside he was climbing. Coming to an immediate stop, excited, Boruto knelt down.

These weren't the flowers he was looking for. 

This continued on for a while as the blond continued moving up moving up the mountain side, looking at every group of blue flowers he could find, growing more and more desperate with each one of them. There was always something missing, something wrong that disqualifies the plant as the one he needed.

"No..." he mumbled as he picked another flower, turning it in his hand to look at every detail. "No, no..." In his frustration, he tore the petals apart.

"Boruto...!" he then heard a voice.

He immediately jumped back on his feet and sprinted forward again, he didn't want to be interrupted right now! He still had a little time... 

"Boruto!" a different, more commanding voice then sounded, but the blond still acted like he couldn't hear any of them.

It was finally someone grabbing him, tight, from behind that forced the pre-teen to stop. However, Boruto didn't stop trying to move out of his sensei's embrace. "Let me go!" he yelled in frustration.

"Boruto..." Konohamaru's voice was decidedly soft. "I'm sorry kid..."

"No... if you just let me go, we still have time..." Boruto tried again, growing desperate. Why couldn't he understand?! Time was precious - they couldn't afford to lose any! 

"Boruto... what you're looking for is extinct, you can't find any by just looking around..."

"I can!" the boy yelled again. "Just - just let me go, I know I can fix this, Konohamaru-nii-chan, PLEASE!"

That was when his eyes landed on his female teammate, and hope was rekindled in him. "Sarada... Sarada, you - you know this is real - you read about it right?! You believe me, right?!"

There was nothing but sorrow in the girl's eyes, it was hard for her to watch her friend in this state... "Boruto, I-I'm sorry... Sensei is right... Okanouchi went extinct-"

"No! Just - dammit!" the blond started heaving in deep breaths, coming closer to hyperventilating. "Please... we don't have time... we don't... we..." Konohamaru just hugged him tighter with his words.

"Are you dense?"

The voice was harsh, no sympathy whatever in it. Konohamaru felt Boruto tense in his arms, but none of the members of Team Konohamaru said anything.

"What were you thinking, endangering a mission to chase after something everyone knows is gone for good?" Their blond companion was seething... not the cheerful boy they had seen in the beginning.

"Beika," the jounin was frowning now. "It is not your place to tell Boruto off, I will do it myself if I find it necessary."

"Well I'm sorry but when will it be necessary?!"

"Don't take that tone with my sensei..." Boruto said in a low voice, frowning slightly.

"I mean yeah, I got it, you somehow believe that I'm here to take your friend's place but you know what? I didn't want any of it! If I could, I would go with my friends! And maybe next time you should tell your friend not to make such dumb deci-"

Konohamaru was too concentrated on holding Boruto. It didn't even register to him that someone else moved first.

WHAM!

Both the boy and the jounin's eyes widened a little at the usually calm Sarada's reaction. The Uchiha was practically shaking with fury as she continued looking at Beika, who was also looking at her, appalled, one hand on his cheek.

"You... I've had enough of you!" the girl exclaimed, her tone furious and heated. "Do you have even the slightest idea of what it means to have someone you hold dear in a very critical condition and you don't know what will happen next?! Do you know what desperation feels like?! Do you even have a heart?!"

"I-"

"Save it. I want nothing more than to complete this stupid mission so I will never have to see your face again."

"I bet you were one of those who kept harassing Mitsuki." Boruto said, his tone just as cold.

"Excuse me? I wasn't even in Konoha this past week!"

"Yeah, right."

"That's quite enough." Konohamaru's voice cut in, serious and stern. "We end this mission right now. We're returning to Konoha and... I don't think I have to say that my report is gonna be full of disappointment. I expected much better from all of you."

The genins didn't say anything to that, but none of them were looking at each other...

...

"Log, I understand your concerns but... you know as well as I do that this is not the first time Orochimaru-sama disappeared for this long."

Karin was sitting in one of the lounge chairs in the attendance room, one of her hands resting on her growing belly, her red eyes on the young man standing in front of her. The oldest son - or in this case, clone - Orochimaru created was clearly in distress - although he didn't show any physical signs of it, the redhead knew him long enough to know. 

"I know that." Log said curtly, tense. "But something is wrong... Don't you think he would be back from Konoha by now? A week is too long for a village that supposedly doesn't trust him."

The woman sighed at that, the young man was indeed talking about her worries in the passing time... In all honesty, she had been restless for a couple of days, too, pacing around, constantly sighing... It had only been for her boyfriend's sake that she had been trying to keep it under control, what with Suigetsu warning her from time to time to not get overly-stressed (who would have thought he could become such a good father even before the baby was born anyway)... But the worries were there, hidden deep. 

"Well...?" Log was impatient, her silence was clearly frustrating him.

Karin closed her eyes for a minute before opening them again and getting up. "Follow me."

Together they walked (or in Log's case, stormed) towards the exit of the hideout. Juugo and Suigetsu were outside, doing some spar out of boredom, because without Orochimaru here, there wasn't much to do other than the routine things, which didn't take much time.

"Juugo," she called, walking up to them and crossing her arms as a serious expression crossed her face. "This is getting ridiculous, we want to know right now what is taking Orochimaru-sama so long. Do your thing."

"My thing?" the orange haired man straightened up from his spar position. "What do you mean Karin?"

"She is being paranoid... again." said Suigetsu, looking at the pregnant woman. "She thinks that something happened but I've told her a thousand times that everything is fine, it's not like it's the first time Orochimaru leaves without saying anything..." He looked at Log. "Have you been feeding her anxiety, kid?" That earned him a glare.

Pregnant or not, Karin's temper was still there and... you could say it was ten times worse because of the mood swings. Suigetsu only knew what was coming when he felt something hit him hard on the head. "I dare you to call me paranoid again, Suigetsu! Do I have to remind you that I'm carrying YOUR baby?!"

"Hey!" the white haired man quickly stood up. "Do I have to remind you that you agreed with having a baby too?"

"Cut it out, you two." Juugo said, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. Now that he thought about it... 

Yeah, he would say he had stock in the worry department himself. Orochimaru had said he was going to meet Mitsuki... and since he wasn't allowed in Konoha, him being away for a week, well... It was not exactly comforting.

He sighed. "Alright, I'm gonna try to learn if there's anything new from the birds."

"Bird-whisperer," Suigetsu said in an undertone, to which the orange haired man just rolled his eyes. Then the white haired man looked at his girlfriend. "Look, go inside and settle down, will you? We will tell you if we learn something new."

But the red haired woman was not about to do it so easily. "Suigetsu, I am not leaving until Juugo says something... I am worried about Mitsuki and if you try to hide anything from me, I swear I will track Orochimaru's chakra on my own." And there she was trailing again...

Juugo was not listening to the couple anymore, he was staring at the sky as he waited for a bird to come. And it did, not one but two of them who landed safely on his hand. His dark orange eyes stared at the birds as they began chirping.

The couple and Log watched on, not interrupting anymore as he listened to whatever the birds were chirping about.

Suigetsu noticed it first, though, being nearer to the man, when he noticed his eyes widening slightly. "Good lord..." Juugo whispered to himself, his free hand balling into a fist.

Hearing the man's words, Karin quickly approached him, worry suddenly filling her eyes. "What? What is it, Juugo?!" her voice sounded more anxious than she had actually wanted to show. "What happened?"

Karin suddenly coming to the point of freaking out, Suigetsu felt the need to once again intervene, although he knew very well that it might end up in blood, and he was worried by Juugo's reaction himself. "Whoa, whoa, take it easy." he said, trying to calm her down.

"Suigetsu, I swear something will break if YOU don't drop this attitude, and I'm not talking about pregnancy issues," Karin snarled. "What did you learn, Juugo?" she insisted, turning to the orange haired man.

"Just spill it already!" Log, who had been silent for a while, finally burst out.

The taller man allowed the birds to fly away before he dropped his arm, Karin noticed how his eyes hardened more than ever as he turned around to face them. "Something... really bad happened to Mitsuki..."

The whisper was all the contrary to the man's hardened features... the whisper came out barely making it to the other two's ears...

Karin hadn't really noticed that she had forgotten how to breathe, stuck in the endless moment of Juugo's declaration as his words echoed in her mind.

Suigetsu was staring at Juugo, trying to wrap his mind around what he had just said, but his mind and body sprang into action when he saw Karin swaying on her feet. He caught her before she could fall to the ground. "Hey, easy, dammit..." He looked up at Juugo again. "Wha... what happened?"

"He..." there was a lump in his throat. "He was attacked on the way here... the birds said that those who attacked him were going to attack Konoha. He engaged them into a fight and... got really hurt." He eyed Log and an already weakened Karin, he didn't know how to say the rest... but he had to. "He is in a coma..."

With that, the older brother didn't even stay to listen for more... In less than a second, without saying a word to them, he had sprung to the trees, disappearing out of sight.

When she heard that last word, Karin couldn't hold it back anymore. A sob escaped her mouth as she brought her hand to her mouth, tears falling down her face. "I knew it... I knew something happened, I knew it..." she whispered to herself, shaking slightly with the sobs.

She had felt her heart tug a week ago, she didn't know why but she immediately felt it was about Mitsuki, something in her heart and head had immediately thought of the light blue haired boy that she had practically raised as her own child... and now she knew it was true...

As she wiped her tears away and slowly released herself from Suigetsu's grip, she took a few steps before looking at the two men. "I want to go there." she said. "I want to go to Konoha."

"We can't just show up at the border and demand them to let us see him, we are not allowed to the village, either..." Suigetsu said, as much as he wanted to go too, there was something called being reasonable.

"I would like to see anyone denying me the right to see my baby boy," Karin snapped. "We are going to Konoha, now, and that's that."

Juugo didn't say anything, Karin was already acting like a mother, it was just instinct and he knew nothing would stop that woman from going to see Mitsuki. "Very well, let's go then." 

They would think of a way to get inside the village somehow... Of course it would not be as easy as the last time they had done it was back when the Great Fourth Ninja War was happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We know you guys are all waiting for Mitsuki to wake up, and we honestly can't wait too... but as we said before, we are doing this according to a pre-set plan, so we don't consider these chapters as filler materials (in case you are wondering so). 
> 
> And let's not forget just how griveously Mitsuki was wounded. His heart stopped for 5 minutes flat (which is the longest time clinically possible to consider a person still salvable) and as such, he is really weakened. He wasn't jujst gonna come back in a couple of days. 
> 
> We believe I have stated this before but just to make sure; Sacrifices is a semi-canon divergent story. In this manner, the plot is gonna be different from the manga or anime of next generations (which should be expected, since this story started 1,5 years before canon materials). However, some of the canon characters will be part of this story, albeit with different roles. Any similarities with canon is almost always coincidences.
> 
> As for that matter, we will continue introducing a couple more OCs in Sacrifices. That's more for the fact that you might not be able to keep track of all the OCs in Happuden (the story that will follow this) if we were to introduce all of them there.


	22. The Bitter Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the harassment towards Mitsuki didn't seem like it's gonna come to an end, even with him being in the hospital now, Naruto finally decides to take matters in his own hands. In the meantime, Team Taka and Log arrives to Konoha.

...

_[Flashback]_

_"No."_

_"No? What do you mean by that?"_

_Kabuto sighed, adjusting his glasses, a serious look on his face. "You know very well what it means. I'm sorry but I can't help you."_

_"Kabuto..." the black haired man said through gritted teeth, his patience waning. "I told you, I have nothing to do with that attack-"_

_"And I believe you." the younger man cut in, but the faithful phrase was still delivered in that same unrelenting tone. "But it doesn't change my mind. Forgive me for saying this, Orochimaru-sama, but I built a respectable reputation in this village after all that happened, and I don't want to ruin it. I can't afford to get my name involved with yours once again."_

_In any other time, in the past... this would've ended up in blood. Honestly, the sannin never understood where this new-found patience of his was coming from. "You wouldn't do that even for Mitsuki then?"_

_That was the first time his old disciple's face actually betrayed his emotions. The pained expression that etched the lines of his face was genuine. "I would do anything in my power. I'm saddened to hear about the incident-"_

_"Then help me!"_

_There was a brief pause during which Kabuto regarded the sannin carefully, apparently calculating something in his head._

_"Alright." he said finally. "I'm gonna help you... without getting my hands dirty."_

_[Flashback]_

Orochimaru sighed and brought a hand to his forehead to swipe it across his hair, looking at the plans in front of him, trying to focus.

Which was his biggest problem. He couldn't concentrate on the break-in plan - which he should. It had been too long already.

Eight days.

Eight days and four hours.

Eight days, four hours and twenty-seven minutes to be exact.

Sighing once more, the sannin dragged his weary gaze back down on the piece of paper that was standing in front of him on the kitchen table. 

That was the length to which Kabuto was willing to go, to provide him with the means to enter the stronghold that is Konoha's prison. It was no easy feat, but there was one tiny, fragile spot...

Fragile... Mitsuki was in such a fragile condition right now, and how he wished he could do something more than just tearing that one bastard piece to piece... Considering that the medics talked about a possible heart condition, he could've started looking for some cure, this was what he was best at after all... But there were two problems with that plan; one, he didn't know exactly what kind of heart condition they could face and two... he didn't even know if Mitsuki was going to...

Letting out an angry snarl, Orochimaru swiped everything on the table, along with the plans, to the floor in one quick motion and brought his hands to his head again, looking like he was just about to pull his hair off...

There was a knock on the door. Caught unprepared, his head shot up. Who would come...? Only the Hokage and Sasuke knew about his presence here...

He was even more unprepared to find out who there were. 

"What is the meaning of this?" Sasuke said through gritted teeth, his tone tense, glaring daggers... although it was nothing compared to how furious his oldest son looked, who was being held by his kimono's collar by the Uchiha. Behind them Team Taka stood, gazing at the scene with worry.

"Let me go at once, Uchiha!"

"You will see that you have no authority here." the black haired man told the younger, clearly thin on patience. Then he looked back at the sannin. "I had no idea you had another son."

"He is not my father." Log mumbled in protest.

"What are you doing here?" Orochimaru asked, he was _NOT_ in the mood to deal with Log now.

That was apparently the one quite wrong thing to say. 

"What are we... are you fucking _KIDDING_ me?!" the young man snapped, breaking free of Sasuke's hold and rounding up on the sannin. "How _DARE_ you keep this from us for so long?! What have you been _DOING_ for the past damn week?!"

"Watch your tone." despite the fact that his voice was calm enough, a dangerous frown had etched itself on the sannin's face.

"You keep an eye on your..." the Uchiha looked back at Log. "...whoever he is, I don't want any problems." he then turned to look at the Taka, especially Juugo. "I will notify the hospital staff so you won't be in any trouble when you visit him. I'll contact you again."

"And how will you stop me if I decide to go now?" Log asked through gritted teeth.

"With your... identical look to the child, you will only cause trouble. And if you cause trouble..." the threat was nothing light. "You'll answer to me."

Seeing that his son was yet again to answer, Orochimaru immediately intervened. "Cut it." He then turned his icy gaze to his old disciple. "Anything else?"

"Keep up the low profile. Remember, your presence in Konoha is a secret."

"You can show yourself to the door."

It seemed like Sasuke didn't have anything else to say anyway. But he still paused for a minute as he reached the door. "Yamato is also here. He will report anything suspicious."

With that, he was out.

Log rounded on the sannin once again. "I will never forget that you kept this from us."

"Well, now you're here, aren't you?"

"No thanks to you!"

"Log..." Orochimaru was trying to keep his calm, he honestly didn't need his son's outburst right now. "Unlike you, I tended to a very important matter."

That caught the young man off guard, and he gritted his teeth as his hands turned into fists and he had to look away.

"We learned about everything thanks to Juugo's birds," Karin put in helpfully, trying to cover for the sudden silence. "Orochimaru-sama... if there's anything we can do..."

"Don't even think about it." Suigetsu immediately interjected, which made Karin look at him with a slight frown.

"I can manage. Just for a little..."

"No." the white haired man wasn't relenting. "I care for Mitsuki and I want to see him in good condition too, but there are limits. Do you think he would've wanted you to put yourself at risk in your condition?"

"Well, he's not here to say it!"

"Karin, I'm not gonna let you do this."

"And since when did I ask your permission about something?!"

"Karin..." Juugo intervened. "Suigetsu is right, this can be too dangerous for you."

"But-"

"Save it for when you're allowed to visit him." the sannin cut in, his tone exasperated. "For now, I need your help."

...

Hearing a knock on his door, Konohamaru looked up. "Come in."

It took him by surprise, the boy who entered. "Excuse me, Konohamaru-sensei... I would like to have a word if you have time."

The jounin snapped out of his surprise and a serious look adorned his face. "Of course, Beika."

Silent as a cat, the genin walked inside and closed the door behind him. Konohamaru noticed how... nervous he looked, which piqued his interest. "What brought you here?" he asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I..." the blond started, looking at his hands. "I came because..." he then straightened his back and raised his head. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior in the mission."

Konohamaru sighed. "Look, Beika... I talked to your sensei. The way Boruto treated you wasn't right and I understand you reacted like that because of the bullying you endured in the past, but..."

"I know... it wasn't, in any case, right to talk behind someone who is hospitalized in such a critic condition."

"I'm glad you at least understood you were wrong." the jounin couldn't help as his thoughts drifted to his most recent student. "Some just don't want to see it."

"That's part of the reason why I'm here." Beika sighed. "When I came back to Konoha, before our mission that is... There were many rumors spreading around... about Mitsuki."

Something about the way he said it made Konohamaru frown slightly, it apparently wasn't any good. "Care to explain a bit?"

"There are various rumors, honestly, you will be surprised just how much people are bending his story over and over... But as you can guess, none of them were good." The boy looked up at him again. "Mainly what they are going on about this is... how Mitsuki initially wanted to betray the village, how everything is a giant set-up... That he had been a spy on his father's behalf from the very beginning..."

"And did you come here to ask me about the truth?"

Beika didn't say anything for a moment. "Well... no. I might have acted like a jerk back there but... I never really believed those rumors, especially after hearing that many versions."

Konohamaru let a small smile shown, if nothing, this boy seemed to be sincere right now... both about his apology and when he said he didn't believe the rumors. "That's good... because the truth couldn't be farther away."

...

"Karin, I must tell you... it will come as a shock, seeing Mitsuki like this..." Sakura glanced at the grown belly of the redhead. "I'm worried for the baby..."

Karin's smile was fleeting. "It's okay Sakura, I'll be fine..." She had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Mitsuki is practically my child too... I raised him, I know all about him, down to the smallest mood change..." She let out a shaky breath, wrapping her arms around herself. "Right now he needs me... I can't afford to be anywhere else but beside him."

Sakura sighed herself, the redhead's devotion and love... indeed, it was nothing short of a mother's. And it wasn't hard to relate to her... "Please..." she turned to her friend, making her come to a stop, too, and put her hands on top of hers. "Promise me you won't do anything rash." She gave her a knowing look.

Karin actually laughed at that. "And welcome Suigetsu number two." She jokingly rammed her elbow into her boyfriend's side as he came near her. "As if he would let me do anything."

"Keeping my girlfriend from over-exhaustion is part of my job." the white haired man countered with a small smirk, putting one of his arms around her shoulder.

"So what, am I a job to you now?"

"It is in the contract, ma'am."

When that prompted another elbow trust, the pink haired medic couldn't help but chuckle. "Wow... you two... who would've thought...?"

"Oh well," Karin mused, putting her hand on Suigetsu's. "Things can change... people can change..." and then her eyes were serious. "Let's get going, shall we?"

...

_[Flashback]_

_"Nee, Karin-kaa-chan... What is it that you wanted to show me?"_

_"Mitsuki, I want you to pay close attention. This technique I'm gonna teach you might be a little advanced, but it's gonna help you protect yourself when you're in need."_

_"Oooh, is it a cool technique?"_

_Karin laughed at that. "Yes, it is. You wanted to impress tou-chan, didn't you? I can guarantee you that you will grab his attention with this."_

_"Then let's start! Let's start!"_

_[End of Flashback]_

Karin was just gaping at Mitsuki from behind the glass, one hand covering her mouth, her voice having left her... Beside her, her teammates and Log were standing motionless too, none of them knowing what to do or say...

Gulping for a couple of times to try and gain at least a bit of her control, the redhead found herself whispering. "O-oh my god... M-my baby..."

"Karin, maybe we should..." Suigetsu began.

"No..." The redhead gulped once again and her voice came out more clearly. "I just... want to talk to him in private..."

Her boyfriend squeezed her hand slightly. "I will be right here."

Karin gulped and nodded, grateful for his presence. She then looked sideways at Log, maybe he wanted to go in first...? But the older brother just gave a simple, silent nod.

And then she was sliding in through the door, and she was alone...

The woman had to stand where she was as she took in the scene in more details. During her lifetime she had seen many wounded, she had healed many wounded, adults and children alike, she was used to it. But seeing a child she came to regard as her own...

Trying to take in deep breaths to calm herself down, she finally walked in and took the seat beside the bed. A tear rolled down her cheek as she leaned forward to put her hand on Mitsuki's cheek, caressing it gently.

"Do you remember," she whispered finally and a small smile showed on her face. "...there was this one day you were really sick... so much so that you couldn't even get up from your bed. You..." she hesitated when her voice became thick. "You even had the nerve to ask me whether you were going to die..." Her hand stopped for a moment, still on the boy's cheek. "And I told you that as long as you didn't dream of a river bank you would be just fine, because then Jizo, the protector of the dead children wouldn't bother you." She chuckled silently. "You kept awake that whole night and refused to see Juugo until the next morning..."

The memories brought fresh tears rolling down, and Karin continued gazing fondly at the child. "Now... even if you see Jizo, I need you to turn him down, Mitsuki." she leaned forward to place a kiss on the boy's hand, and then gently brought it to her belly. "Because don't forget... your little sister is waiting for you too..."

Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she leaned forward once again to kiss Mitsuki on the forehead. "Just don't worry, baby... I'm here and I'm not going anywhere until you get better. You're gonna make it."

Slowly she got up, as much as she wanted to stay a little more, she knew that Log was getting impatient, too. It had already been uncharacteristically nice of him to allow her in first.

And indeed, as soon as the redhead got out, Log rushed past her.

The young man didn't hesitate as he took the seat that was vacated by Karin, but looking up at his injured brother this close... he practically sagged, putting his arms on the side of the bed and hiding his face between his hands.

"I guess seeing you like this is my punishment for being at the very wrong place at the very wrong time..." he whispered in disgust, and then raised his head to look at the younger boy once again. "I'm sorry baby brother... I let you down... I should've been here that day as planned, I should've fought those bastards, I should've protected you...!" he dropped his face in his palms, shaking his head. "Orochimaru was right... I _AM_ a disgrace..."

His voice was strained by the time, but the older clone knew better than shedding a tear, no matter how close to it he felt. He stayed in silence for a while, just... existing beside Mitsuki.

"When you wake up, I... don't expect you to forgive me easily... or at all." he sighed as he moved his gaze up once more. "But regardless... even if to just kick my ass, find your way back." A humorless smirk came across his lips. "I'll even let you do it this time."

The young man brushed his hand on his brother's fingers in form of a goodbye before silently heading out.

...

Naruto huffed out angrily, pinching his nose between his two fingers. "This is getting ridiculous... I had believed we were over this bullshit..."

"I'm afraid not," Konohamaru said seriously. "There are still rumors about Mitsuki, lord seventh, and pretty bad ones." He sighed. "I'm just concerned of Boruto and Sarada finding out about all these... They are not gonna take it lightly."

Naruto nodded, he knew only too well what Boruto's reaction would be... He honestly wasn't looking forward for another outburst.

He sighed. "Alright... Leave it to me, I'm gonna deal with it myself."

Konohamaru bowed. "Thank you, lord seventh."

As soon as he was out, Naruto called. "Shizune."

The woman was there in a second. "Yes?"

"Contact the TV station manager for me."

...

"Hey... can I sit here?"

Sarada was genuinely surprised to hear the voice, but her face didn't betray her emotions as she turned around to face the person who just spoke.

"Why? You came to mock us again?"

She wondered if that was guilt in his brown eyes, which shone with determination. "No. I only wanted to speak for a bit."

The Uchiha turned her head away from him. "Well, I'm not in the mood for a chat."

Beika sighed as he sat next to the girl... who didn't openly object to it. "Even if I say I'm here to apologize?" When Sarada just snorted humorlessly, he insisted. "I am. Look... I know what I did was wrong-"

"It's a little too late for that," she cut in.

"Please, Sarada..." the blond sighed again, he didn't want to end things like this. "It's... no excuse for my actions but... I have been constantly bullied back in the academy because of my origins... I've been told multiple times that I, a..." a humorless smile came across his lips. "baker, as my name and family job suggested... wasn't cut out to be a ninja. That my efforts were futile, that I should just quit."

"Oh, and so you thought it was only fair to do the same to a person in a similar condition?"

"No, not at all. I have nothing against Mitsuki. I told you, I wasn't even here when the attacks happened or when he was harassed." When the girl looked at him doubtfully, he added. "I heard all about it from my teammates and your sensei. But you see, when Boruto just... acted like that... it was as if all that bullying came back to me... And I... learned to be harsh when I need to be..." He paused for a moment. "I'm really, honestly sorry about saying such inconsiderate words about your friend..."

Sarada sighed herself, when he put it like that... it was getting harder to stay mad at this boy. Still... "It doesn't matter right now... does it? Not until he wakes up... Because if anyone has to forgive... that's Mitsuki."

The blond's look turned sad. "I'm sorry... I don't know exactly how bad it is, but... I hope he'll make a full recovery and wake up soon."

"Thank you." Sarada whispered softly, facing Beika again and finally showing the ghost of a smile.

...

The setting sun found Boruto and his friends returning from another visit to the hospital. None of them were in the mood to speak much. True, that wasn't their first time, but it wasn't getting easier no matter how many times they visited their injured friend... None of them had any experiences that would match before.

Shikadai looked sideways at Boruto. His friend did seem more composed in the past few days, but they had all heard about the recent incident. Although he was being careful not to show it, the Nara was worried about him.

"Hey, what do you say about stopping by my house? Shikayo was saying something about making Genmaicha..."

It was not just kind of a traditional drink for the Nara, the whole gang really liked it and would drop from time to time to their house especially for this. He had expected to get a reaction from Boruto.

But before the blond could say anything... they were stopped by a voice coming from behind them.

"Tell me... banana... is your girlfriend getting any better?"

Boruto tensed visibly before slowly turning around. His friends immediately surrounded him in a semi-circle, dislike on their expressions as they stared at the small group, especially at Ichiro, who, of course, was in the lead. He looked at Boruto's friends with a raised eyebrow. "Never noticed you were going around with bodyguards now." He smirked. "What, you're afraid to go one on one with me now?"

"Look who's talking," Inojin said between gritted teeth, frowning at the older boy. "Why don't you kindly buzz off with your cronies, Sarutobi?"

"After all the trouble they have caused? Disgracing my grandfather and seeing that he was replaced by their sensei?" Although he didn't even say Konohamaru's name, there was distinctive hatred in the boy's voice. "Oh, no. He's not getting away with this."

"Guys... step aside." Boruto said finally in a tight whisper.

"Boruto... let's just go okay?" the Yamanaka's voice showed clearly how concerned he was.

" No... if they want to keep badmouthing Mitsuki, then he's right, they will have to face me."

"So what, your little snake friend was weak? That's why he is dying!" one of the other kids said, and some of the group actually snickered.

"Tch... you should be the one in his place... certainly no one would miss you..." the blond was looking directly in Ichiro's eyes. "I would like to see you going up against five jounins with stronger elements than yours... you wouldn't even look back, saving your own ass!"

"They're not worth it, just let it go..." Metal said, almost helplessly.

"He got what he deserved!" one of the other kids shouted, and knowing what would happen next... Metal and Inojin blocked Boruto's way before he could jump forward to the kid. 

"I _dare_ you to say that again!"

"Why won't you losers just shut your mouths?" Shikadai pretty much growled, thin on patience. "Don't talk about things that you don't know of."

"Oh, and you know, Nara?"

"Why do you side with him, Nara?" Ichiro said, mocking. "Or are you looking to get a good job by his side when he becomes Hokage, like your father?"

Boruto's eyes widened when he heard that... remembering all the many times Mitsuki said this very same thing... "...you..." he mumbled, and as the last bond of his composure got torn up, he lunged forward, trying to get free of his friends' hold. "...you little piece of _shit_!!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Inojin glared at the Sarutobi and his friends. "For once, keep your big mouth shut!"

"Haven't you done enough?!" Metal asked angrily before looking back at his friend. "Come on Boruto... let's go..."

"No! They need to know! They have to know that the person they so criticize right now, even when he isn't here to defend himself, actually saved their asses!" the blond yelled, angrier than he could put in words... if it wasn't for his friends holding him back...

"What are you talking about?" Ichiro asked. "Bullshit!" 

Before any of them could answer, the huge screens in the center of the village changed images from their usual campaigns and publicity to the reporter's program.

"Today we interrupt our usual show for a special interview: The investigation of the attack at the orphanage." she said while looking at the screen, then she turned her face to her side. "With us we have the honorable presence of our Hokage, who accepted to advance us the information about the investigation. Lord Seventh, welcome." she bowed.

"Thank you." The Hokage said plain out, his voice sounded tired and grave. It had been a rare sight for the people of the village - usually, the Hokage always wore a smile on his face whenever he addressed the public, it was his nature. 

"Aside from giving information about the interrogation data..." he continued. "I would also like to inform everyone about the following attack which aimed the village and myself, and... its consequences, as it reached my attention that there has been some misunderstandings."

"We have heard a few rumors about this so called attack but there is a lack of information. Care to extend the information about it? Is it related to the attack to the orphanage?" Her questions held no hesitation, almost no emotion, just the pure and simple seriousness of her job.

Naruto took a breath before answering. "Yes, both attacks are related to each other." 

The next question was quick. "Was it Orochimaru behind the attacks?" 

Naruto's eyes hardened "No."

He saw the look in the woman's eyes change momentarily to surprise before she immediately got a hold of herself again. "I believe it was revealed that the orphanage attack was indeed linked to the sannin?"

"That was a mistake on our part." the Hokage continued. "Orochimaru had been behind neither the orphanage nor the second attacks. The interrogations in regard of this second attack made us come to the conclusion that he was framed."

"Then who are the culprits behind both attacks?" she asked.

"Both of them were held by a group of rogue ninjas." he answered and the reporter noticed how sure of himself he sounded.

"And the snakes?" 

"The snakes might be Orochimaru's mark but I assure you that _anyone_..." He made sure to freeze that last word. "...can make a contract with a summoning snake."

"So are you saying, Lord Seventh, that the attackers tried to both take your life and frame Orochimaru? Why would they do it?"

"Disrupting the peace, ensuring chaos... We know from our past experiences that chaos calls for a change in power, a dictatorship in extreme cases." He stopped for a moment, and then moved on. "Three out of the five attackers were from the survivors of the Oto village, the village found by Orochimaru himself, which was destroyed when he fell. Joining forces with two strong cloud missing ninjas, they sought revenge and a perfect chaotic environment, assassinating the person many saw as the harbinger of peace."

"You said there had been more consequences other than the death of the children in the orphanage." 

"Yes..." The pain in Naruto's face returned as he looked away from the camera for a moment before looking again. Boruto knew that he was finally going to talk about the most important matter... well at least it was to him... "Because of the news that claimed Orochimaru as the culprit behind the first attack, someone else was unfairly caught in the crossfire." 

"Are you talking about Orochimaru's offspring?"

"Yes. His name is Mitsuki." He was firm in his words. "And although he was constantly harassed and driven out of the village, feeling unwanted... he still protected the village, protected me... with his life."

There was a moment of silence.

"There have been a lot of rumors circling the child's involvement," the reports woman said carefully, it was only too clear that the Hokage was touched by the subject. "Care to enlighten us more on this?" 

Naruto took a deep breath and then looked directly in the camera, so that he was looking into the eyes of everyone who was watching this interview right now. "When he left the village that night... Mitsuki came across the rogue ninjas just out of our eastern border, talking about their plans for attacking the village. And even when there were five ninjas, all of them jounins with stronger techniques than him... He engaged them in battle, protecting us with all he had before we could reach him in the appropriate time."

"But if the attack was so close to the border, then why didn't anyone come to help the child?" 

Naruto sighed. "One of the ninjas had the ability of rising a sound barrier which allowed a fight to stay inside that bubble and to not be heard from the outside." He explained, and paused for a second.

"I am truly saddened to have heard so many rumors antagonizing this child who did nothing but protect the village. Even when he had no reasons to do it. That is why I am here to clear his name. Mitsuki is not the one to blame here. In fact... he is currently in a deep coma after he was badly injured in that fight. Nobody knows if he will ever wake up."

The reports woman was apparently trying to gather her thoughts - her professionalism aside, the revelations were indeed shocking. "Lord seventh... I think all of us yearn to solve just one piece of the puzzle. There are more than capable jounins in the village. Konoha could easily have driven those ninjas out. Why... why would this child take such a risk?" 

"Those ninjas did not randomly made a squad. Their abilities did indeed make them a formidable, effective ambush squad." The Hokage again paused for a minute. "There is no telling how many ninjas, how many families they would have destroyed before they reached me. Mitsuki, one child of barely twelve years old, made sure that wouldn't be the case... and that nearly cost him his life. He... in his very own words... protected his family."

The woman was clearly getting emotional over the Hokage's words, Naruto couldn't tell if it was simply because of the heaviness of the words or if they made her think of a child of her family, her own child perhaps...

"Thank you for your words and presence, Lord Seventh. Is there anything else you would like to add?" 

"Just to ask the people in Konoha to no longer spread rumors about this child. What I just said is the whole truth and Mitsuki is the hero here. Thank you." 

The screen went off the moment the Hokage rose from the chair. The whole village was in deep silence... they didn't know what to say and even when they slowly returned to their daily affairs, their faces were still like they had just come from a burial.

Boruto faced the kids with whom he had been fighting a few minutes ago.

"Got anything else to say?" he asked, his voice tight. "Go on..."

Only silence greeted him, none of the children being able to say anything else...

"Come on, Boruto..." Inojin said in a sad mumble. "Let's go..."

...

The young woman with bright red hair was absent-mindedly stirring her cup of tea for what felt like the hundredth time. The trip to Konoha had been tiring, to say the least, and she wasn't set to see her friend until tomorrow afternoon, so she had plenty of time to rest, but for some reason, sleep was evading her. She had hoped that maybe a cup of calming tea would ease her tension...

She looked up when the waitress put a plate of cookies in front of her. "Nee, Ayaka, I'm trying to get sleepy, you know." she said jokingly. "A full stomach is not gonna help me much."

"Heh. Knowing you, you should be running around half-starved all the way from Kiri." the woman said with a smirk of her own.

"Ah, gimme a break. It has been ages since I left that stupid diet program."

"You mean to say when you finally left that loser, Satoru?"

They both laughed at that. It didn't go amiss by the redhead that her friend's laughter was short-lived, though, as a sad look came across her features.

"Hey, is there something wrong?" she asked lightly.

"Huh?" her friend seemed startled. "It's... just that..." she sighed, and her eyes drifted to the door of the cafeteria. "I keep wishing that he would just walk in..."

The woman was almost gonna tease her about a possible boyfriend, like the other did with her ex... but her instinct told her not to. "Who are you talking about?"

"This boy... he's a genin I know ever since the academy... One of the kindest of them, too, always with a smile... He used to come here every morning in the weekends, he loves scrambled eggs, but... he had been in an incident... he is hospitalized now..." She sighed as she made to go. "I just miss the happy look in his golden eyes whenever he thanked for the breakfast..."

Something clicked on the woman's mind when she heard those words. "Wait, does... this boy also have tossled blue-white hair?" Of course there could be many golden eyed boys but... her gut feeling told her otherwise.

Her friend seemed confused by that. "What, do you know him?"

"Mitsuki..." the woman whispered as her eyes widened a little.

"Yes, that's his... Izumi?" the waitress called as she watched her friend take out some coins and left them on the table. "Where are you going?"

"I'll see you later, Ayaka." Izumi replied, already at the door. "I need to go visit a friend of mine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now you guys know what Orochimaru had been doing during the past week :) And I also introduce in this chapter an important character for the general plot, Akiyama Izumi (mirage-05 's OC) .
> 
> Looking forward to hear on how you feel about this chapter ^-^  
> I would like to thank everyone who have been bearing with me, commenting on the previous chapters and giving me feedbacks ^*^


	23. A Brother's Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious stranger decides to help Orochimaru's revenge plan - one which the sannin is not at all happy about.

She never really liked the hospitals.

True, she had medical training on Mei's prompting but she was a free spirit (a very stubborn free spirit, her foster mother always commented) - she would much rather go be part of the action rather than staying behind. Not that she ever underestimated the importance - it was only that she was more of an action person. 

She tended to avoid hospitals because, well... they never brought her any good memories.

Izumi sighed and closed her eyes, trying to focus her mind not on that fateful night twenty-seven years ago and on the injured child in front of her, keeping her prayer's here...

Lost in thoughts, she didn't even hear the door sliding open.

"What are you doing here?"

Hearing the intimidating voice... the redhead tried her best not to flinch too hard as she slowly turned back to face the newcomer... or, in this case, the father of this boy.

He was as fearsome as she first met him - though she would never admit it to his face. Those golden eyes looked cold - colder than ever, and although his posture was nowhere near threatening, just his presence and aura was enough to create a sense of foreboding.

She straightened herself a little before answering. "I was visiting him."

"On what terms?"

"As his friend, as you know well."

"He doesn't have a friend in you," the sannin's tone was cold, not relenting as he passed her to stand next to his son's bed. "Nor does he need a friend."

She probably shouldn't have pushed it... but by that time, Izumi wasn't able to stop herself. "You are wrong. He needs his friends more than ever right now."

"His friends are the reason he is in this condition right now." Without completely turning, Orochimaru moved his eyes towards her. "And he definitely doesn't need strangers to keep him company."

That was harsh... and she could've said something, but it wasn't appropriate and she didn't want to keep nagging him while he was worrying over his son... So, biting the inside of her cheek, the redhead moved out of the room, slowly closing the door behind her. 

She turned back to look at Mitsuki one more time before she walked away. "Come back soon, Mitsuki... You know I can't get along with your father when you aren't around..."

_[Flashback]_

_"LET ME OUT OF HERE! DO YOU HEAR ME?! HEY! I WANT TO SPEAK TO YOUR BOSS!!"_

_Izumi sighed as she banged her fist on the prison bars. In any other case, she could've melted those with her acid technique, but that... Hozuki bastard made absolutely sure they were acid-resistant when they brought her down to these dungeons._

_And come to think of it, dungeons?! What kind of an old minded freak had dungeons like these in this time?!_

_"OI!! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!" she yelled once again, just about to lose it. And this mission was supposed to be an easy one to her! She was to only spy on and gather intellect on Hozuki Suigetsu's sword, a weapon that rightfully belonged to Kiri, which was pretty much confiscated by him. The Mizukage didn't think she would need back-up on this mission, and frankly, neither did she, but all it took was one tiny second of distraction, and they had ambushed her..._

_She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even hear the sound of the supply door opening until she saw a small hand appear under it, pushing in a tray with a food bowl and a glass of water in it. It was such an unusual sight that she gasped._

_At that sound, she saw that the little hand immediately withdrew. Izumi tried to see behind the bars, but whoever it was, was hiding skillfully in the shadows._

_"Wait, please don't go..." she said, her voice coming out more concerned than urgent now. "Who are you...?"_

_There was silence for a long moment, so much so that the Kiri ninja began thinking that the person was gone. "Come on..." she mumbled. "I'm no one to be afraid of, I promise you that..." The person didn't... feel threatening, if anything, the redhead was willing to bet it was just a child... The hand was definitely not an adult hand._

_The other party still wasn't saying anything... But then someone walked into the light, locking eyes with her reluctantly._

_Izumi gasped. The boy didn't look older than nine._

_"Hello," she said once again, trying to keep her tone pleasant and not alarmed. Who was this child...? She had heard stories about this place, about countless children who were brought here... "My name is Akiyama Izumi. Nice to meet you." she continued with a smile, putting her hand through the bars so the child could take it._

_The boy looked down at her hand, but made no move to acknowledge the gesture... and he actually took a step back._

_"Okay..." the young woman pulled her hand back slowly, this had been awkward... "What are you doing here? I don't think I've seen you before..."_

_The boy didn't say anything, but... made no more moves to get away, either. The redhead took this as an encouraging sign._

_"Is it okay if I ask you yes or no questions? You can just nod or shake your head."_

_The young blue haired boy seemed to think about it for a moment. Then, as unsure as he looked, he nodded._

_"Are you being held here against your will?" Before she could stop herself, the burning question slipped out of her mouth. She had to know... if there are more pressing matters other than the illegal possession of one of their legendary swords._

_But to her surprise, the boy shook his head - vigorously at that._

_That was unexpected. A small frown made its way to the woman's features. "Are you... related to someone here then?"_

_A nod this time - although it didn't go amiss by her that the child took a quick peek around before nodding._

_"Huh... interesting, never thought a child could be raised here..." she mused, and when she caught him staring at herself, she smiled sheepishly. "Sorry... maybe it was better not to say it out loud."_

_The kid was silent for a moment. And then..._

_"Why do you keep screaming so loud for my dad?"_

_The redhead was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to do now that she finally got him to speak. The big, curious golden eyes kept gazing intently, obviously waiting for an answer._

_"Um... because it's not appropriate that I'm being kept here, and I want to talk to the person in charge for a reasonable negotiation."_

_Apparently, her choice of long words were confusing the boy... way to go, talking with children, she inwardly scolded herself. "I don't really understand what you mean..." he said. "But I heard from Suigetsu that you were trying to steal something..."_

_"The nerve of that bas- master!" Izumi rushed in to correct herself. At which, the boy started laughing. It was more of a giggle, actually, but the jounin could tell that the invisible barrier between them had just cracked._

_"You know," she said non-chalantly. "You still didn't tell me your name."_

_The blue haired boy offered her a smile. "It's Mitsuki."_

_"What a beautiful name. You said you were the son of...?"_

_"Yup, my dad runs here," Mitsuki said brightly. "He is a great scientist. But..." his face fell a little then. "I don't have many friends here..."_

_"You are the only child here then?"_

_"Yup."_

_The kunoichi smiled a little herself when she heard that, at least that was some kind of a relief. "Well... I can be your friend if you want."_

_And the smile widened a little. "I would love that."_

_Before any of them could say anything more, there were footsteps and they heard a voice. "That's enough, Mitsuki."_

_Mitsuki immediately tensed at hearing the voice, something that pulled at Izumi in all the wrong ways. Was that the kid's father then, the person in charge here? The redhead gulped, not having difficulty in guessing who that could be._

_And indeed, a tall man with long black hair stepped out of the shadows. The first thing the kunoichi immediately noticed was that he had the same eyes with Mitsuki._

_"Go to your room. Now." the man said in a calm but cold tone to the young boy. Mitsuki gulped, gave a quick nod and then hurried away, without another glance at her._

_Despite having heard about the countless stories centering around this man, this was the first time Izumi met the infamous ninja - one of the three legendary sannins of Konoha. He was indeed an intimidating sight, especially with the calculating and chilling look in his snake-like golden eyes... but she was determined not to show how she was so unnerved by the mere sight of him._

_Instead, in an attempt to look braver than she felt... she spoke. "So what, couldn't handle your son making a new friend? Seems like the poor child needs it."_

_"Do not forget the position you are in." With that, Orochimaru put a hand on the bars and leaned forward, and it became even harder for her to keep her composure when their eyes locked. God, how could he have such an effect on her...? "You are on no grounds to make friends here."_

_"Then give me back the sword that belongs to Kiri, and I'll go my way." Izumi gallantly spoke, still trying to cover her fear._

_"You will not get anything from here. If you do not let go of your claim... be my guest to stay here forever." The threat was nothing light._

_With that, the sannin turned on his heels and started walking away. The kunoichi just gaped after him for a while, unbelievable, but then she hit the bars with all she had, frustrated._

_"COME BACK! LET ME OUT!!"_

_[Flashback]_

Orochimaru sighed inaudibly as he looked at the sleeping form of his son.

This was becoming harder than he expected. He had watched his son sleeping countless times before, had he not? This time should not be different.

But he wasn't able to come up with any words.

Standing there for a couple more minutes, he finally took the few steps, going to the window. Staring out of it, he started speaking.

"Tonight, I am going to finish the job I started. Tonight, there will be one less vermin walking this earth."

Admitting to that fact seemed to give him the motivation he was looking for.

"I will let you know that I never expected to have you." He didn't know where those words were coming from... which wasn't something that ever happened to him. "I did create Log merely to serve my own purposes. And he did well, he was disrespectful to say the least, but never disobedient. I did not imagine needing a second ch-" he stopped himself there, thinking the word over. "-soldier." he concluded. "But then you came to me... when I least expected, you came to me. And I did not know what to do with you. For the first time in my life, the things I experienced treaded an unknown path, a path that I did not intend to choose." Maybe it was best not to bring it up that if it was not for his brother... he wouldn't be here...

"But you were an interesting creature... even from your birth, you were one of a kind." He folded his arms, his gaze turning distant, remembering... "You intrigued me, made me wish to learn all I can from you, about you... Little by little, you made me realize that... it might not actually be bad to... have a child..."

Finally, he turned to face Mitsuki again, not knowing what else to say, already feeling like... he most likely said too much. But also feeling like he should come up with a finale...

"Tonight's victory is only going to be complete... when you wake up... for I have the feeling that I still have quite a few to learn from you."

He walked forward, getting closer and closer to the bed. "And I know you will come back." He put his hand, gently, on Mitsuki's forehead. "...because you are my son."

...

The cemetery of Konohagakure was quiet today. It wasn't like the young boy was complaining about it, though, no. He liked to be alone next to his parents, away from the loud brats who wouldn't understand what the gravestones or death meant, or those who would wail so loudly that it felt like his ears were bleeding. No, it was best that he would be left alone in his own thoughts.

Honestly...? Right now, he needed it.

Ichiro sighed as he reached forward and put a hand on the soil, caressing it a bit. "I wonder what you guys would've told me if you could see me now... I guess I'm... quite the disappointment..."

Another sigh... this talk wasn't going to be smooth, he knew it, but still... 

"I... just don't know what to do..." he admitted, the look in his eyes distant. "For all my life, after you left... grandpa became my only anchor... He raised me, I never even thought to question his moralities... It was _'Ichiro, do this,'_ and whatever it was... it would be done, no hesitation. Because... grandpa couldn't do anything wrong, right?"

A long pause followed his words as the teen hung his head, his face hidden by the curls framing it. "I... did something very... very wrong..." he mumbled at last, not looking up. "And not just me, I dragged others into it..."

His free hand clasped on the trinkets on his wristband... a memoir from his mother. Ichiro closed his eyes tight as the images of his parents flashed before his eyes, as clear as he remembered them... smiling encouragingly, congratulating him for the graduation from the academy - with flying colors, too. How he wished he could take these memories back...

"Please forgive me..." he whispered, his hold tightened even more now. "I wasn't the son you wanted me to be..."

He wasn't honest, he wasn't fair, he wasn't helpful and understanding to the less fortunate... all the things his father praised to be the treats of a true member of the Sarutobi. If nothing, the crushing fact that he had let his father down weighed upon him as he stood there.

"Show me a sign..." he said, his voice low. "Show me a way to become better than what I am, better than what grandpa made out of me... To at least make up a little..."

A cool breeze rushed past the trees, picking up some snowflakes from the ground and swirling them around. The teen allowed himself to just... not think for a moment, to just get lost in the nothingness...

"Ichiro?"

That voice had caught him off-guard. His eyes snapped open and he immediately looked back, although of course, he had long recognized who it belonged to.

Which wasn't a big surprise, really. He knew that the third lord's grave wasn't too far away.

"What do you want? Or am I not free from my training even here?" his tone was coated with sarcasm as he turned away to look at his parents' graves again. How much of it did he hear...?

Konohamaru raised an eyebrow - he hadn't much time to speak with Ichiro after lord seventh's interview, the teen had been on a mission the next day and he had his own duties... hardly pressing as a sensei, he would say. "I just thought I would say hi."

"Well, now you said it."

The jounin sighed, looking on the ground, honestly feeling a little... exasperated. How was he even going to connect to this boy when he didn't know how to approach him...? All his attempts seemed to fail.

"Look, Ichiro..." he finally said, raising his head to look at the back of the boy. "I know we had a rocky start and I know it's hard for you to accept the situation and come to terms with my current position..."

The teen honestly couldn't help but think how he was very much off the mark.

"But as long as you want that too, I'm willing to overlook that." Konohamaru paused, measuring his next words carefully, so as not to multiply the distance he was trying to close. "I want to offer you a fresh start, as if nothing happened previously. What do you say to that?"

And once again, the teen was silent as he looked at the two graves.

_'Seriously?_ THIS _is supposed to be the sign?'_

A new resolution being shaped in his mind, Ichiro turned to the jounin and for once, his look wasn't hostile or hateful... it held the accepting that took too long to build. "Yes, I would like that."

...

They had no idea the afternoon would come with a surprise.

Team Konohamaru was called for another mission - one that didn't require a third man to join their cell. They were back in the grade school, supervising children for one period.

It had been a little harder than they originally thought. The first thing the kids asked was where Mitsuki was - of course, the food team wasn't complete without him. It had been hard for both Boruto and Sarada to explain their friend's absence, they ended up just loosely answering that he was recovering after he got hurt protecting the village - pretty much what Boruto told his sister. The kids had been a little grumpy after that, but all in all, it was a quiet period in which they mostly did reading.

All things aside, the Uzumaki could easily say that he was glad when the bell rang.

"Onii-chan! Sarada nee-chan!"

Startled out of his thoughts, the blond turned at the same time with his friend to see Himawari approaching them with a big smile, tailed by a female sensei who had mid-length brown hair and a very tiny figure. Hima seemed excited as they came to a stop in front of them.

"Hi, Himawari." Boruto said, just seeing his little sister lightening him up. Then he looked at the woman. "And you must be...?"

"Aburame Anzu, I'm your sister's homeroom teacher." she replied pleasantly.

"Aburame?" Sarada joined in the conversation. "You are Shino-sensei's wife, right?"

"Indeed, I am." she offered them a smile. "Himawari here had quite the idea to motivate the students to do something collective." A shadow passed over her face. "I have heard about your friend... I'm sorry-"

"But anyway," the younger sibling cut in immediately. "Anzu-sensei told us about that myth where you write get-well wishes on some paper... animals, and if we get enough of them... our wish will be granted!"

"Well, it's more like what she said, really... a myth. But in any case, I think this is a great opportunity to let the children to emphatize."

"So? What do you think?" Hima practically chirped in excitement, looking really proud of herself.

Boruto and Sarada looked at each other.

"Well, count me in." the black haired girl said at last, with a warm smile. "I will make one of those paper animals myself."

... 

"Yeah, we will eliminate that low-life tonight... any idea how we're gonna get him out first?"

Log was losing his patience with Orochimaru - and that was putting it lightly. It was easy saying they would kill Takeru - of which he sounded so damn sure - but they weren't informed of any sort of plan. It was either he didn't make one, or for some reason, his creator was playing it close to the vest. Either way, he was successful at pissing him off.

"If you have any ideas yourself, feel free to share." the sannin snapped back, almost equally annoyed.

"That place is a stronghold - unless you are planning to set off a bomb or something, I can't see anything working out. Sure, we can get in disguised as another prison guard, but we need a distraction to get him out of the prison first and out of the village second - which he is not gonna be quiet about anyway. It can backfire on us in the blink of an eye!"

"Bah, I don't think anyone in this village will mourn the loss of him anyway," Suigetsu said matter-of-factly.

"Holding their reputation is important. Letting a prisoner be kidnapped is one way to tarnish it."

"I'm pretty sure they can cover it, Log." Juugo put in.

Just when Log opened his mouth to yet again say something, there was a knock on the door, quick and curt. Everyone present in the room looked at one another, startled. 

The white haired man was closer to the door. After a look of confirmation from Orochimaru, his hand on the hilt of his sword and partially hiding inside the door, he pulled it open.

The person didn't even wait for an invitation. Izumi fixed her fiery gaze on the sannin as she came to a stop in the middle of the room, causing everyone to look at her unbelievably.

"I'm going to help you in your revenge plan."

...

"What the actual _fuck?!_ "

"There is no need for such a reaction." the redheaded kunoichi was frowning slightly, almost unapprovingly at Log.

"And who the hell are you to determine that?"

"Excuse me but can I second that statement? What the actual fuck?" This came from Suigetsu... naturally. "We are supposed to trust this Kiri woman out of everyone?!"

"No one said such a thing." the sannin was losing his patience - which was to say something, with everything that was going on this day. He thought he had made his point very clear back in his son's room - this woman was not welcome in any of their lives. "You are not involved in this plan and you will never be. Leave. _now._ "

Izumi straightened her back, looking squarely in his eyes. "I have a plan to get that guy out of the prison without him suspecting anything. I can at least do that much, can't I?"

"Bullshit." The older clone was clearly beyond this by now.

"So how is your planning going?" The Kiri kunoichi, on the other hand, was not fazed at all, more like completely ignoring him.

"None of your damn business."

"It is my _damn business_ if it involves Mitsuki."

"Orochimaru-sama..." Karin's voice was just a little hesitant as she interjected. "Maybe we should hear her out first before readily dismissing the idea?"

"You gotta be kidding me!" Suigetsu exclaimed.

"I second Karin on this one," Juugo put in. "Orochimaru-sama, we keep drawing blanks. It might be good to get a second opinion."

The sannin didn't say anything as he kept glaring at those blue eyes, which shone with determination and stubbornness...

...

"Hey! At least bring me some coffee once in a while!" Takeru called out to whichever guardian that could hear him - not that they would respond, to be honest, but he was getting damn bored and these people were so easy to annoy, just like that Hiraku wimp from Kumo.

Being a rogue nin and talking about morals... Yeah, right. What a joke.

_They_ didn't even have a choice. After the downfall of Orochimaru, that despicable man who built Otogakure as a research lab, they were attacked and ruined on a non-existent excuse. The clans had to stick together and so they did - for decades now. All with the hope that one day they will have enough funds to build their own - real - village.

And just when they were given the funds and promise to achieve their dream... Only with the condition of murdering Uzumaki Naruto... it had to come all crashing down. All because of one worthless brat...

A sudden sound caught his attention and the Shiin's head immediately snapped up, catching a shadow move just in time.

"Who is that?" he immediately asked, and hated the fact that his voice sounded at least a little panicky. What was this, was he still afraid of the sannin came knocking on his door? After more than a week? "You better have brought that coffee of mine." he sneered.

Yes, he was still afraid.

And then... a woman walked out of the shadows, and Takeru's jaw literally dropped to the floor. She... she was goddamn beautiful. Her hair held the fire from the torches in an enchanting way, and even when she didn't really meet his eyes, what he saw was breathtaking.

"Hot damn," Takeru muttered with a low whistle. "Alright, now, this is ten times better than a coffee." A smirk was formed on his lips as the woman stepped in front of his cell bars. "Were you sent here to entertain me, hot stuff?"

"You'll find out you have no time for that." the stranger said with a cool and indifferent tone, looking straight into his eyes. "Master Nobukazu sent me here to retrieve you. I have news from the Sound."

Takeru's eyes flew open when he heard that. Shiin Nobukazu, the leader of their clan... If he, out of all people, went into trouble to send a spy to Konoha out of all the villages... this should be something really big.

Wait for a moment though...

"Anyone can know the name of my clan's leader," he said, frowning slightly. "How exactly should I trust you to be sent directly from him?"

"I'm a free merchant," the woman shrugged. Then her gaze turned serious. "-who happened to come upon what's left of your clans two days ago."

This last part made everything come to a stop as the brunet gaped at the woman. "What... the hell are you talking about?!"

"Oh. So you haven't heard." She got closer to the bars, and instinctively, he was drawn closer too. "Konoha ninjas went there more or less a week ago and burnt the whole place down in retribution."

"That's a lie!" Takeru hit the bars, hard, with his hand, but the woman stood her ground. "We aren't weak, we got stronger, we would stand up against them!" It couldn't happen, _not again_...

"Only about fifty people survived from the four clans. They are planning a counter-attack, but master Nobukazu asked me to retrieve you too. He said you would play an important role."

"God damnit!" A laugh escaped from the man's mouth, almost hysteric. "And what does he think I can do from here?! Does it look like I can get out of here anytime soon?!"

"That's why I'm sent." The redhead put a finger on the bars and traced it over, almost seductively. "If you trust me, just for a little bit... I can get you out of here."

"Hell yeah I can trust you." was the first thing to come out of his mouth and he didn't bother to stop himself now, it's not like such a beautiful woman wouldn't fall for his charm and lie to him... "Alright sweet cheeks... get me out of here."

He wondered for a moment whether the smile she gave him was indeed a cold one... but in the next, he disregarded it as a trick of the light. A sickly green, dense liquid began forming on the woman's fingertips and as the metal started to sizzle, Takeru stood back, gaping in wonder.

"Acid release...?"

The redhead's smile only grew sly. "That's why I was sent."

...

It had struck him weird how easily they seemed to slip out of the facility - like none of the guards were on watch. Which couldn't possibly be true - guardians were on their necks even in the free period.

"Hey, I'm not sure..."

"...of what?" the myseterious woman turned to gaze at him in the dark.

And once again, he didn't know what to say for a moment. "Ugh... I don't even know your name...?" It should've been the least of his worries and in a way it was... only he was trying not to sound too suspicious.

"Akiyama Izumi. Do you feel better now?"

"Maybe." A smirk accompanied his tone. "And maybe I will feel even better to have you in my bed after we get our revenge."

"I guess that all depends on whether or not you will survive it."

"Hah, don't underestimate me hot stuff. I'm pretty strong, that was the reason I was chosen for the Konoha mission."

"For all your big talk, you still seem timid around me. Why?"

"Hey, anyone with half a brain would be..." timid wasn't the right word here. "...cautious. Why isn't there anyone around anyway?"

"It's because we're about to reach the meeting point."

They walked in silence for a little more, and the forest surrounding them grew thicker and thicker... until he began to see a clearing up ahead.

And saw a shadow moving, fast, in the clearing.

"Whoa, wait-"

"Just a little more." the woman goaded.

And as soon as they stepped into the clearing... he came face to face with the man he most feared in the world.

Gasping, Takeru turned back... only to meet the now icy gaze of the woman who brought him here. Jerking her hand away from him in one quick motion, Izumi pushed him forward, right at the feet of Orochimaru.

Scrambling up to his feet again, he turned back... the woman was gone, and in her place was a huge, fierce looking man with orange hair.

He turned again... this time to bump into a white haired man with a huge, cleaver like sword... just looking at it made his blood run cold...

He had nowhere else to run to, they had closed in. Scared witless as he was of him, Takeru still directed his words to the sannin. "I guess you're gonna do the same thing you did to Goro. Rip me apart and be over with it."

"I'm not the one who will determine your fate."

One look from the sannin to his subordinates, and Takeru saw no more.

...

When he opened his eyes... for a moment, he thought he lost his mind.

This... couldn't be, it just couldn't be, this was insane. Yeah, he knew that brat somehow managed to survive, but to be up on his feet, right in front of him, like some kind of...

" _Demon...!_ " the word he thought sprung to his lips as he reeled back in horror.

A cold, dangerous smirk made its way on that pale face. "Funny you should say that. Because I'm about to turn this place into your hell."

And that was when he started noticing other things.

The boy... well, it wasn't a boy, more like a young adult - so much so that he wondered how come he didn't notice it before. His eyes were sharper, with a long slash mark on his right chin, directly under his eye.

The man blew a puff of smoke right in his face.

"I take it that you noticed the similarities?" he said almost non-chalantly, but his voice still sent shivers down the brunet's spine. "You didn't figure the boy you almost killed would have family, did you?"

He didn't have time to react. The hard kick that was delivered to his chest made him fly away and bump into a tree, knocking the wind out of him. Short of breath, he glanced up at the young man, who had taken a pack of cigars from his pocket and was looking in it.

"I have five of them left and I'm a slow one. Which would give you about forty minutes to entertain me." He looked at him with some kind of greed, no, lust... lust for blood in his eyes. "Because I am not gonna kill you until I finish all of them."

He leaned forward in an attack position, golden eyes glinting poisinously in the dark.

Turning away, the only thing Takeru could do was run.

...

Before he completely succumbed to the mind of the predator, Log remembered feeling thankful to Orochimaru for giving him this chance.

Well, it wouldn't matter. He had started preparations even before he learned about his creator's plan. Whether the sannin liked it or not, he was going to fight this man himself. If anything, he owed his little brother that much. He couldn't protect him, at least he could avenge him. He could cease the existence of those who tried to put out the one light in his life. 

His eyes, adjusted to darkness from creation, had no trouble tracking the low-life. His prey breathing heavily wasn't much of a help to the guy either. For all his big talk, he was an amateur; if anything, he was making his job easier.

In the middle of his flight, the Oto ninja suddenly turned and threw a barrage of kunais at him. Taking his sword out in one quick motion, the older clone made a long slash with it - knocking the kunais in midair and sending a gust of wind towards his opponent. Takeru dodged, put a hand on a tree trunk and twirled around, putting his other hand on earth in the process.

Suddenly, the earth became mud under his feet. Not losing his composure, Log let the sensation completely engulf him, more and more... until he became the snake. The beast slid into the ground, along with the sliding earth, finding its way easily through the soil. His smell had enhanced in this stage, he had no trouble pinpointing the exact location.

The brunet yelped in panic and jumped back as a huge snake sprung from the depths of the earth, baring its fangs at him and snapping them close just inches away from his face. He barely had time to avoid the next attack - his eyes widened as the beast turned into the vicious young man, who now swung his sword at a much closer distance. Takeru instinctively held his arm up, and felt the sharp pain of the cut.

In the next moment... he was howling in searing agony.

Hearing that, the older clone smirked with delight. That was an added bonus to his sword for this day only. He had dipped it into a salty substance, made sure that the crystalline material stuck enough to the blade. Oh no, he wasn't going to give this bastard an easy way out.

Dodging another barrage of kunais, he jumped on a tree, noticing then that he had just finished his first cigarette. Damn, he was getting ahead of himself. He threw the butt away and lit another cigarette, then lunged forward.

Recovering a little, the Oto ninja wasn't unprepared this time. Paper bombs went off all around them, lighting up the area. Being trained as good as he was, the blue haired man was caught by the last echo of the blast, but he quickly got up to his feet, only with a faint stinging feeling on the back of his hand. He charged forward...

He was faster - naturally. Once, twice, three times... they were shallow cuts and nowhere near where they could cause real damage, but he had delivered a series of twenty-five cuts when his second cigarette went off.

As he contently lit up the third one, the man's screaming sounded like music to his ears.

Several shurikens attached to tiny strings flew towards him, wrapping themselves around a tree just behind him. Before he knew it, high pitched ringing sounds deafened his ears, and Log had to cover them as it created a splitting headache.

And in that moment, his opponent counter-attacked. Well, as long as his distraction worked, he was quite fast. Log barely had time to raise his sword, and he felt a cut on his arm. Their weapons clashed, and in the next opening he had, he slashed at Takeru.

With a poof sound, a stump stood in the place of the man. Substitution technique.

"Now I'm seriously pissed," he mumbled to himself, looking at the cigarette butt that lied sliced in half on the ground. "You made me waste my smoke."

He lit another one and looked around... the man was nowhere to be seen.

At first a frantic thought crossed his mind - what if the man had escaped? These weren't really attack maneuvers - they were more evasive measures. It would be wiser to hightail it out of here rather than facing an opponent he can't beat...

But thinking more clearly... he calmed down. Yeah, he didn't deliver a mortal blow, but with those cuts, that lowlife couldn't go too far. It was more likely that he was buying himself time.

Taking a breath out of his cigarette, he let it out in one long blow and closed his eyes, listening...

If he couldn't trust his sight, he still had his hearing.

After listening intently for a moment, he had found his prey.

The Oto ninja didn't even understand what happened next, it was so fast and he was so out of it. Log delivered another series of quick blows, twenty-five precise cuts. 

By the end of it, Takeru didn't even have the strength to scream anymore.

As the blue haired man dropped in front of him, gazing at him with intense disgust... the brunet instinctively did something he never thought he would do in his life... covered in his own blood, in unimaginable pain...

"Please... kill me..."

In the process of lighting his last cigarette, Log paused and lifted an eyebrow. This... man... was honestly begging for mercy...?

He was looking in the golden eyes hopefully... Just one quick thrust of that sword and it would be over... one quick blow...

That hopeful look turned to relaxation as the young man raised his sword, high. After looking at him for a minute, the blue haired man brought it down, hard... the Oto ninja closed his eyes, waiting for the salvation...

"No. You're not worth it."

His eyes snapping open, the brunet watched in horror as the predator turned away and started walking in the opposite direction. "Wait!"

Ears deaf to his cries and pleas, Log took out a paper bomb and placed it on a tree - not too near Takeru as if it would blow him to pieces, but not too far either, so that the flames could reach him quickly enough.

Taking one last breath from the final cigarette in his pack, he dropped it near the bomb and jumped towards the trees, listening closely as the bomb went off and loud screams mixed into the crackling fire in a matter of seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrightie... a little more information about Izumi and how she got to know Mitsuki and ~~the hideout gang~~ his family :D For those of you who need to catch up with stuff, Izumi is the foster daughter of Terumi Mei, or the previous Mizukage before Chojuro, and she trained under her and learned some of her techniques :) She is also the main OC of mirage-05 from the Naruto timeline ^^ 
> 
> Note to self; don't ever piss off Log... Just saying.
> 
> See, Orochimaru isn't that bad of a father, he gave Log a chance to vent out his anger xD I'm sorry if it was a bit... sadistic... or not.
> 
> I would love to hear your opinions on this chapter :D

**Author's Note:**

> A collab fanfic between me and my friend (mirage-05), there are illustrations for the chapters of the fanfic that can be found here:  
> http://eleanor-devil.tumblr.com/tagged/sacrifices  
> http://eleanor-devil.deviantart.com/gallery/52397191/Naruto


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